Hi all,
I tried WoW for 3-4 months and liked it a lot, the huge world and great gameplay but, like Cobweb, didn't much care for the cartoony look of it. I also played a lot of Guildwars which I really liked (and free to play is always nice!) - great gameplay and a fantastic look to it, however it isn't a true MMO as it's mainly instanced. Also played EQ2 beta which was probably my favourite of the MMOs but at that time I couldn't justify paying monthly to play a game.
Being a huge Lord of the Rings fan (books mainly, but love the films too), I tried the beta of LotRO and ended up buying a lifetime subscription on release (as well as the collectors edition of the game), which paid for itself in a year and so now play more or less for free (when I get the time of course!). For me it ticks all the right boxes - WoW's massive world and great gameplay/features, and GWs/EQ2s fantastic looks (as well as gameplay), all set in the LotR universe.