As much as it might sound like we are complaining about the recent expansion, Lord of the Rings Online is actually in a really good place right now.
- The servers are a shit ton more stable now than they ever have been thanks to them moving to 64bit servers and a new datacenter
- There is a shit ton of content you can play through in the game now due to most of it being made free to play... unless you want to play the most recent few expansions, you can play just about everything else for free or via collecting up Lotro Points by completing deeds and buy it in the lotro store, so still free
- Since the moved everybody in to the new 64 bit servers with 3 in the US and 3 in the UK (actual UK datacenter), the worlds are very active with tons of people playing the game.. it no longer feels like a ghost town
- They continue to revamp the classes, and even though it pisses people off, the outcome usually is better than it was before, so the classes are not stale. For instance, the Lore Master rework a year ago pissed off a lot of people, but the end result is that the Red Lore Master is a pew pew monster that destroys everything with lightning and fire. It's hella fun to play now
- With the addition of Beorning, Brawler, Mariner, Rune-keeper, and Warden over the years, they have a very diverse set of playable classes and unlike the rest of the industry, classes in Lotro actually feel unique and different from one another
So, I mean, the game certainly is not perfect and the developers can be annoying at times (name a MMORPG that doesn't have the occasional Dev that doesn't piss in someone's fruit loops on the forums), but the game itself is actually really good and could potentially continue being a fun option for a long time.
At least the devs and designers spend their time making actual new content all the time unlike Everquest where they give you a new pride pet and regurgitated content they call an expansion every year, so there's that.
*edited*
Just wanted to add that Lotro is not a replacement for Everquest or any grinder MMORPG where you sit in a camp and grind experience. I know that these forums are for the most part everuest-oriented, so didn't want anyone going to Lotro for the first time ever and being like "WTF.. this game sucks dick because its not like EQ". Ultimately, they would be right if they compared it off of that style of game.
Lotro is an achiever's wet dream. There's more checkboxes to check in the game than most people will ever have the time in their life to complete. It's not a race-to-the-end and then the fun begins kind of game. Sure, the end game does exist and there are those that only enjoy the end game, but there is SO much more to Lotro than the end game.