When comparing Age of Conan: Unchained vs EVE Online, the Slant community recommends EVE Online for most people. In the question“What are the best MMORPGs on Steam?” EVE Online is ranked 4th while Age of Conan: Unchained is ranked 17th. The most important reason people chose EVE Online is:
You can do anything. literally anything. You can become a massive entrepreneur and deal with billions of ISK, set up a pirate base in wormhole space, explore anomalies, build massive ships, become CEO of a player-run industrial corporation. There's tons and tons and tons of stuff. This is likely the most sandboxy of MMO sandboxes.
Specs
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Pros
Pro More adult themed than other options
Age of Conan is an unrated game, meaning the content can stay mature and closely match the themes found in the original books. This will easily appeal to those looking for a more adult MMO or to fans of the series.
Pro Real freedom
You can do anything. literally anything. You can become a massive entrepreneur and deal with billions of ISK, set up a pirate base in wormhole space, explore anomalies, build massive ships, become CEO of a player-run industrial corporation. There's tons and tons and tons of stuff. This is likely the most sandboxy of MMO sandboxes.
Pro 360' freedom of movement
Up, down, left and right simply stop having a meaning when it comes to space. Making for a true space simulator in that the controls mimic how objects would behave in a real space environment.
Cons
Con Late game may be too difficult
For those that like to causally play an MMO, the late game found in Age of Conan may be a bit too difficult, especially if the player is not prepared by having read u on what builds and levels they need to be in order to complete the more difficult quests.
Con Spreadsheets in space
At the very core, that's what it is. You'll be looking at tons of stats, calculating % resistances and DPS. It's a paradise for math savants and economics geeks, but not so much if you just want to blow things up quickly.
The graphics are there, but combat takes place at a few kilometers at least, so you won't be ever seeing your ship and the enemys' at the same time (unless as tiny silhouettes). Which only enhances the feeling that combat is a set of dynamic spreadsheets rather than a real visceral thing.
Con On the decline
The player number is about half of what it used to be and continues to decline. The game has been around for 10 years so it's hardly a surprise.
Con Requires lots of time invested
Because of the open market thing even going out on a quick mission may require you to gear up your ship first, which takes ages as you jump across multiple stations to get the two dozen different modules required to outfit your ship.
EVE feels a lot like a second job sometimes.