I recently recovered from a relatively long break from EnB to experience a few (make that the VERY few) other games in the space MMO universe. EVE is pretty cool, but paying to NOT play a game seems a little extreme and shall stand as a last resort, Black Prophecy won't run on my rig, and Taikodom is currently out of commission. There is one aspect that seems universal in the genre, and that seems to be a player-run economy.
Now, one thing I love about EnB is the community. Nice and dedicated. However, as a Tradesman, I looked forward to striking deals with players from all over the game world, limited as the population may be. However, there are two main blocks to this playstyle:
1) Only a few stations ever seem populated enough to be of much use to a trader, and those who have business at said stations all seem to be in such a hurry. However, this is somewhat understandable, with the current population being as it is (although I have gathered a few converts recently).
2) This is the big one. Everything player made seems to just be given away! I understand a few freebies for newbies, but there seems to be no actual market at all! I understand that you guys are really nice and such, but there really should be a line somewhere. Maybe a few trade-oriented sectors or something (similar to EVE's Jida system). I'm not that much into PvE, but I LOVE trade. And just selling to NPCs just takes so much of the human element that separates the MMO from something like X or Evochron.
So, yeah. This is really the only game of its type right now. I don't really want an alternative, but I just really want to let out my inner Han Solo here!