Lord of the Rings is like World of Warcraft in most respects, but a little more bland.
World of Warcraft was cool at release, but now it's friggin' ######ed. Blizzard doesn't even try anymore, they just steal ideas from other gaming companies and try to edge them out while ignoring their player base and giving them nothing but mindless grind after mindless grind. Don't be fooled. WoW is NOT casual friendly.
Dark Age of Camelot was fun in its prime, but it's fallen by the wayside in both support and in player base. Mythic is now putting most of their effort into Warhammer Online, which will be the next big thing and the only game that could give WoW a run for it's money in top spot as King of MMOs.
If you're just looking for something to dink around on without putting in any real effort or time (ala hardcore playing) then try Vanguard. It's new enough that there'll still be lots of low level players. Tabula Rasa, although destined to not really take off, is another alternative if a sci-fi genre MMO catches your fancy.
If you're looking for something to play long term and eventually want an established character, my advice is to just wait for Warhammer to be released, hopefully in Febuary or March. Doesn't really help in giving you anything to do over the winter, but it'll be the new fad when it comes out.
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