More or less…yes. Most MMO’s will have some sort of conflict-type situations just for the reason that there are multiple players doing different things.
If I’m being an ass and farming the newbie section in some fantasy MMO, leaving no mobs for an actual new player, then yes, that’s conflict. I am forcing the new player to make a choice - wait me out, try going elsewhere in game, or leave the game altogether. This is also considered a dick move, because losing potential players is usually bad. Dick moves are generally frowned upon to the point of punishment by the GM’s.
OTOH, if there is a rare spawn, and both I and You want to kill it, then there may be more palatable competition. We may not be able to work cooperatively if the game has us on ‘opposite’ sides. If not, then we may be able to work cooperatively to kill it and both get credit. Some games will give us both loot, some will be random to who gets the goodies. If the latter, then it’s possible that I will want the loot and NOT for you to have it, so I’ll pull out all the stops to kill it (or tag it) first. Once again - competition.
And if you’ve ever been on a raid with random loot trying to farm something in random groups. That’s where the nastiness resides in MMO’s.
Then there’s the market. Most of those games will have vendors that you can sell items to.
EvE has very few of these, and the NPC market orders are only for a very limited set of items. It’s also intended to be a starting point for the budding marketeer.
Having said all this, there are some big differences between your average MMO and EvE.
One difference is of the consequences are generally more meaningful - though that can be rather subjective. In your average MMO, you generally don’t lose anything. Survival games can be an exception. Early MMORPG’s and respawning naked zones away, isn’t really a thing anymore unless you’re on a special server of an old game.
PVP in your average MMO (the pew-pew type) is generally structured and makes attempts to be fair. Exceptions exist for some games, of course. These games will earn a reputation as “hardcore”.
Lastly, most MMO’s have artificial boundaries. Most MMO’s want you to interact with each other, but only in certain ways. Some games the opposition cannot talk or interact with each other unless it’s combat related. As usual, there are games that have more of a free style type of play.
The main thing that sets EvE apart from other games, is that EvE is the exception in ALL these categories. While the vast majority (if not all) MMO’s have some sort of conflict present, EvE was built around the concept of constant conflict, Few interaction boundaries, and meaningful consequences for peoples actions.
–No-so-conflicted Gadget