So why can't they swap roles? Why isn't there a mechanic that allows us to use any toon for either purpose? Clearly EVE needs to stay on PC and Dust needs to remain on PS3, but other than that, I can't think of a good reason why this shouldn't be possible. Unless mercs are former convicts (read: Sansha POWs) that are barred from commanding spaceships?

How will Valkyrie characters fit in? What will they be called (ie, "pilots", "jockies", etc.)?

What's the basis in lore for the current situation, wherein my immortal merc is unable to even change his place of residence unless my capsuleer CEO decides to rent an office at the desired station (which is a ripoff and isn't possible if no offices are vacant)?

As much as the (yet-to-be) economic and gameplay connections between EVE and Dust, I want an explanation of why mercs are second class citizens in their respective sovereignties.

Additionally, it seems to me that moving all skills (merc and capsuleer) to one skill tree and making them all passive would eliminate "the grind" that so many people complain about, as well as not reward players who've checked out for months at a time (since they'd have to log in at least occasionally to update their skill queue if they wanted their toon to grow). And with Valkyrie just around the corner, I'm curious to see what character development model CCP chooses.

I'm sure plenty of die-hard players on both sides of the (current) New Eden universe/gamescape will object to this, but I for one would love the chance enrich all of my toons' back stories by having the option to train them in multiple "Super Roles".

EVE = spaceship commander (capsuleers are not pilots; even the smallest EVE ship is crewed)
Dust = ground-based mercenary
Valkyrie = fighter pilot

Thoughts and opinions (re: either lore or mechanics)?

EVE = spaceship commander (capsuleers are not pilots; even the smallest EVE ship is crewed)

The Neurological anatomy of a Clone soldier is fundamentaly different than that of a capsuleer, (Dust clone brains have a 5th lobe that we don't have,) so our burn-scan data is different too, meaning that when the data is uploaded to the new body we would never wake up. other than that, consider the amount of knowledge that has to be transfered, We capsuleers posses the knowlege to operate kilometer-sized machines, while Dust soldiers, only need to know how handle equipment and vehicles. Dust implants are not able to transfer the amount of data our brains contain, ( especially Capsuleers with tens of millions of skillpoints. )