There are a few of us on Snowbourn. I started playing before it became F2P and have lifetime subs on my account. I haven't played much in the last year though, so my warden and hunter are still lvls 52 and 43 respectively.
You won't likely find a more scenic and better environment texture quality MMO than LOTRO unless you look really hard. If you've read the books you'll love exploring the world and meeting characters who didn't make a feature in the movie (Radagast the Brown & Tom Bombadil for instance). The game's graphics and storyline caters for both chilled movie fans and hardcore book fanatics who've read the Silmarillion, Children of Hurin etc. as well...
Since it became F2P the inventory and in-game store system has been screwed up a bit and I'm not too fond of it...but just go run around the Shire for a bit to see if you like the game. As soon as you've crossed the Brandywine bridge and made your way to Bree you'll be hooked.
One of my favourite screenshots is being on Weathertop (Aman Sul - where Frodo got stabbed by a nazgul) at night.
My brother played this game for a while. He said that it is good for the most part but there are many quests only available for paying players. Also levelling is hard without paying as you will eventually run out of areas to level in.