Hmmm... just my thought but maybe the bonuses can be accounted for by optimisation of computer systems. As the systems are now linked, maybe the shields can be merged in some way to provide optimised coverage for the whole fleet, producing more protection for the armour. And maybe the increased yield could be accounted for by using spare power diverted from other members of the fleet, improving the efficiency of the lasers?

Just a couple of ideas.

And while I'm here, it's been so long since I started Eve that I can't remember details on the pods. I had a look but was unable to quickly find anything on the forums to answer what I was interested in. In the pods, are we just strapped and plugged in to our control systems, or are we in one of these sort of sci fi pods that have you completely submersed in some sort of goo? For example, I've automatically RPed sounds of me kicking panels and such, but this would only be the case if I have freedom of some movement in my pod.

Whilst no longer playing EVE myself I was a player for over a year and have several issues of E-ON magazine. One of the stories published in the magazine- and therefore presumably canon- detailed the pod and a pilot emerging into the rest of the ship. Others on the site give hints about other aspects of Pod Piloting. Here are the facts about the Pod which can be found in canon, and if there's a serious problem I'll try to dig up where I found a specific piece of info:-

- The Pilot IS floating naked in a tank of goo, body comatose, whilst plugged into the ship's computer.

- The tank provides full life support and maintenece of the body- a Pilot can remain in the tank for a theoretically unlimited length of time with no     physical side effects.

- The Pilot can unplug from the pod, emerge into the ship (after washing and dressing), and interact with the crew. The ship presumably loses all the advantages of being pod-piloted, and quite probably is LESS effective than a non-pod ship in this state.

- The pod is behind securely locked blast doors that can only be opened from INSIDE the pod when the Pilot is plugged in. This is a security measure to prevent a mutinous crew from killing a comatose Captain in the pod.

- The Pilot inside the pod "feels" the ship as if it was his/her own body, and so is able to control it more effectively.

- Frigates have no crew, and just require a pod pilot. Larger ships are more complicated, and fully automating them would require a computer so complex it would have a chance to go rogue as the Rogue Drones did- hence the need for a crew. Pod piloted ships do, however, have significantly smaller crews than standard ones.

- There are obviously no bangs, zooms, or other sounds in space- likewise, weapon fire is probably not visible to the human eye. The Pilot will, however, react faster to such stimuli than to a message reading "Incoming missile" or "Laser fire from Ship A", so the computer converts such date into a full-sensory display.

RL happened. Several factors combined to make me short of cash and/or time. Then, the Rikti Invasion happened in CoX, with a few other RP events...

I still keep meaning to re-activate my account. Perhaps I will get around to it one day, especially now that Age of Conan has had the release date moved back.

well... you cant!

As for pods, I'd say the pilot is normally able to walk around the ship, entering the pod only when his/her direct control is required. Basically, this happens only in difficult combat or maneuvers.

>>Picture the sort of Pilot who would stay constantly hooked into the Pod and never emerge. Said Pilot feels more like a ship than a human being, interacts purely over the comms channels, and treats the crew as a disposable part of the ship's infrastructure, only existing to them as a disembodied voice giving orders.
In short, Va'ra.