The Lord of the Rings fans turned out to be incredibly lucky, perhaps the most lucky of any fandom, especially any book fandom. Their source material got both a sublime movie adaptation, LOTR trilogy being without exaggeration some of the best movies in history, and likely THE best movie adaptation in history of cinema. And then they also get such a great video game adaptation??

True labor of love, still going strong since 2007, with dedicated developers, fair F2P model and one of the best communities/player-bases I've encountered. I've yet to see any toxicity, World Chat is hilarious and friendly and people are jumping at the opportunity to help newcomers - every time I ask a question in World Chat I get multiple PMs with answers and offers of assistance.

The game world itself is HUGE, prepare to be astonished by the sheer size of it - and it keeps growing with updates! A completionist paradise, with optional Deeds and collectible items, and tons of content for any kind of player. A breath of 2007 air in our world full of enshittification and predatory F2P practices. Not sure how many more years the game will be active (doesn't look to be dying whatsoever, so far), but I highly recommend you hurry to experience this while it lasts. Regardless if you plan to be social, play solo or bring friends - this is the most solo/duo friendly MMO I know, with vast majority of the content scaling to party size, level and difficulty.

Even if you're not a LOTR fan, it is a solid high quality game, perfected through the years by developers who care about their child, and it shows.