I've played LOTRO since I stopped playing POTC back in 09. I played it continuously achieving levels 65 and 75 before taking a break to play Minecraft with my daughter. Minecraft was a simple game that can be complex with some of the redstone creations, but all in all there are only a few mobs to deal with. I went back to Lotro and played to level 105 and it does get confusing at times with the changes and updates. Now with added character classes and races the level goes to level 115, I believe. I am still only level 105, but I have several toons in the 70's.
The lag issue is most noticeable around the new entry areas ( Bree, Thorin's Hall, and the Elf area, sorry forgot the name) and settles down quite a bit once you get away from the main hubs. The game became a lot laggier after going free to play with ad bots that appear periodically after achieving level 5 so they can enter the main gaming servers.
As for content and free to play, yes, there are toons that claim to have made it all the way through the game without having to pay. However, you much purchase the new areas as you come to them to get the quest packs for the area. Supposedly you can follow the book quests throughout all of the areas, but as with any other games, there are ways around paying for all of the advancements. Questing can earn Turbine Coins, which are the coins used to purchase the quest packs. These can be purchased for cash, or simply earned through questing, and there are regular specials offered at the store to increase the coins for each purchase.
Crafting is a lot of fun, Player money is easy to come by, my most recent character has 410 gold after a little over a month of playing thanks to farming ores and skins and selling them at the auction house. The newest High Elf race has some sorely needed changes to the actions such as sliding down an embankment and rolling at the end rather than the breaking of a limb of the other toons. Some of the attacks have also had the actions changed.
All in all, I recommend Lotro to anyone who has the time to play a game. The graphics are good, the play is fairly easy to understand once you get into it, and maxing out the equipment is not necessary to have fun. This is not a sit-down and play for five minutes and understand everything about the game. I know people who have taken over a year to get the characters to level 105, now there are books that can take you straight to level 105, however it doesn't give you all of the trait points and skills so a lot of grinding is still needed.