Use to play ark with friends. Heard about Exiles before it dropped but decided not to pick it up because my pc is a potatoe and could barely handle ark. Was pleasantly surprised a couple days ago when it was on ps+. Hadn't even known it was available on console. Been playing the last couple days and I like it. I feel like it improved all the parts of ARK that frustrated me, and because of the npcs I feel like I won't miss out on most of the experience if I play single player.
Both Ark and CE have their own strengths which is the great thing about choice (or why not play both?).
Really glad you gave Conan Exiles a chance :)