I’m a lifetime sub and I’ve played since the original TSW Beta. I like SWL more, once I got used to it. The only thing I miss are auxiliary weapons (RIP chainsaw) but the many combat and skill changes are an improvement.
I’ve been playing LOTRO for over 7 years. 
The game designers obviously respect the books and (if you’re a Tolkien fan) it is immensely satisfying to visit Hobbiton, The Prancing Pony, Mirkwood and Rohan etc.
You can choose a character from several races and classes (although you can’t be a member of the Fellowship!)
The idea is that you are helping out the inhabitants of Middle-Earth within the background of the main story.
You do encounter various heroes (e.g. Gandalf, Tom Bombadil and even Bill the pony), but your mission is to explore and do good generally. Tasks range from making a pair of leather gloves for a lumberjack to working with Glorfindel to chase a fleeing Nazgul.
You can spend your time:
- exploring (it’s a HUGE map)
- fighting (from goblins to dragons)
- crafting weapons, armour and jewellery
- trading with other players
- building a reputation
- taking part in seasonal Festivals
- earning a title for yourself
The game is free to play (although paying a monthly fee ($15) gives you game rewards, bonus areas and allows you to complete things much quicker.)
You can play Solo throughout if you want, although there are many Kinships to join and other players will happily band with you to tackle specially written group content.
There are many Servers - each has the full game, but is designed so you are more likely to find other players in your time-zone (as it’s played world-wide.)
For example, I play on ‘Laurelin’, which is aimed at English-speaking Europeans who particularly like roleplaying and the Lore of the books.
I’d be happy to answer questions. 
there’s also a free star trek one made bu the lotro people mention aboved
I’m glad to hear that – the ship has long since sailed for me, but I have a few friends who are still playing SWTOR, and hopefully the new expansion and other changes will keep it a viable game for a while longer.
You can play the base game of GW2 for free, some features are limited but you can play. If you buy the base game and the 2 expansions, you will get new content, the Living Story, for free.
Almost 7 years in and I am still playing. So close to getting my Skyscale…
I tried LotRO when it was new and found it badly (if sometimes hilariously) janky and weird. Like bears-raining-from-the-sky in the Shire janky. I assume they’ve fixed a lot of stuff since then, though.
Does it still have the Worst Escort Mission Ever, i.e. that stupid hobbit in the Downs? Not that anyone loves escort missions in any game, but CoH kind of spoiled me in that regard–most of its escortees are either invulnerable or have superpowers and actually try to help you with the mission. Some of them are dangerously enthusiastic–looks at Fusionette–but none of them are as dumb as that hobbit.
Oh yeah rescuing that stupid hobbit lady from barghests? (Evil dogs.) I assume it’s still there.
The worst escort mission I remember was Legolas, to the point where they actually fixed it a bit with patch notes that read something like “We’ve had a talk with Legolas and explained to him the importance of not breaking CC.”
But that was long ago, the story only had gotten to everyone making it to Rivendell.
The one with the hobbit lady who went into the Barrow-Downs, then wouldn’t leave without finding her cloak when you came to rescue her, then plodded at a snail’s pace on a preset path into one wight ambush after another, culminating in a boss fight. If it’s the same mission, then it sounds like it’s been changed a bit, which probably means she was once even dumber than you remember.
Big flappy chonky boi - love my skyscale. Not as fast as griffons, but sometimes speed isn’t the point 
In other words, I’ll second GW2. Ike’s given some info above but, in addition, the community is pretty friendly - both in-game and on the forums. No game is completely grind-free, but GW2 keeps it reasonable. Once you hit the level cap, you can continue to develop your character in other ways - the expacs open up elite specialisations, for instance, meaning you can try new weapons and playstyles for existing professions, as well as opening up new professions.
I’ll third Guild Wars 2. You can jump in any time and do what you feel like doing. It has something for everyone and a nice community. And it’s a beautiful game. I’ve been playing since it came out.
If you want to try the granddaddy of MMOs, you can play Meridian 59 for free on Steam. It was my first MMO, back in 1996.
Return of Reckoning (uses the original Warhammer Online client) is another oldish MMO you can play for free. It was a fun RvR game when it first came out, and made me feel the way I used to feel as a kid, running with a pack of other kids, pretending we were having epic battles full of strategery and excitement.
Adding another vote for Guild Wars 2; I’ve been playing it since beta and still log in just about every day. Heck, before that I played GW1 almost from launch, and it’s great fun seeing how the world has changed in the 250-ish years of game chronology.
I’ll also add that it’s a very solo-friendly game; you can complete most of the PvE content on your own, and if you yell for help, half the damned map will turn up. Y’see, everyone participating in a kill, event, whatever, gets at least some reward, so there’s plenty of incentive to help out.
Or you can play with a guild - plenty of those - or with a friend. I play frequently with tavalla, who is my wife IRL.
Ike Witt - I’m almost done with the skyscale as well! Just have to finish up Skyscale Flight!
oh theres perfect world and the company that makes that has several other games also …