I have to be among a small percentage of people dumb enough to pay for two active MMORPG subscriptions.  Reasons why this is dumb:

1.  I don't buy a game a month, which is what I am shelling out in subscription fees ($25, and yes, when I buy games I usually get them on sale).  Hell, most years I buy less than a handful of games per year!
2.  I have two kids, I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar (=paid lessons, another monthly expense), a house (and a marriage) to maintain, and every once in a while I have to go to my full-time job and do things there.  I legitimately do not have time to be playing one MMORPG, much less two, one of which has a moniker of "World of Warcrack"!
3.  Related to point 2--because I split my time, (a) I am only running one main character in each game, and (b) neither character is nearly as far along as he would be if I was kjust playing one or the other.

Reasons why it is not dumb:

1.  I have a family member who plays WoW and I would not get to spend time with that person except in WoW.  I have tried convincing him to come to LoTRO, but I think the primary thing is that he only has a laptop, and it barely can play WoW (he's said adding any add-on hampers performance on his machine, so you know he's pushing it).  I have been trying to calculate how much I should contribute to his new computer fund, since I would end up ahead in $ if I paid him, say, $100 and then could cancel my WoW subscription if he moved to LoTRO and in a few months I would be ahead in $.
2.  Both games are good, so if I can stand the expense and not be too frustrated by the fact that I can't magically add free time to my day, it is nice to have a change of pace available so I don't burn out on either.

I think one of the advantages of this setup is that I really get to compare both games while I am playing them.  It isn't like I played WoW a year ago, and now I'm relying on those memories to compare the two.  I am level 32 in WoW right now (Hunter, a great solo class), and level 36 in LoTRO (Minstrel, an in-demand class for grouping).

So here is a short list of what I like and don't like when comparing the two games:
1.  Auction Hall.  Because WoW allows for add-ons, I use the Auctioneer add-on (http://auctioneeraddon.com/) and it makes generating money and spending your money wisely a much less painful and much, much less time-intensive experience.  I know that Turbine intentionally does not allow functionality-enhancing third-party add-ons in order to cut down abuse, but a very real side effect is that something like improving the Auction Hall, probably a low-priority project on their list, keeps getting pushed back in lieu of gameplay additions and fixes when the reality is that LoTRO really needs Auctioneer-like functionality.  Badly.  Advantage:  WoW
2.  Dying.  Both games handle the immediate logistics of dying differently and I think the differences are fascinating.  WoW:  You have the option to bail out and take a hit on equipment, or you can truck back to your corpse and pick up where you left off.  The main advantage here is that as a ghost going back to your corpse, you really can pick up where you left off which is important when you are doing something lengthy and groups at the beginning have started to respawn.  In LoTRO you are either revived by someone in your party, or you go back to a spawn point and take hits in equipment and a temporary hit in Morale (HP).  Having to get back to where you "left off", or to drag your group back to meet up with you:  Gigantic pain in the ass.  Advantage:  WoW

I'm going to take a break in the list here to mention that an easy counter to the last "Advantage" to WoW is that WoW is super-easy, and that just because PC death in LoTRO presents more of a challenge that doesn't automatically make WoW "better".  So generally that's true, just because something is easy that doesn't make it better.  My counter is that when it comes to games I don't mind if playing the game is challenging, but if the mechanics make it unnecessarily frustrating then that isn't challenging, that's a stupid game design decision.  So, as an example, if I fight my way for 45 minutes from one end of a ruin to the other against mobs that run on a ten or 15 minute spawn, and I die near the end not reaching my objective, I have to start over, from the beginning, and not just that, but for ten minutes I also have fewer HP with which to fight my way back to where I was when I died.

This is the equivalent of "save points" in console games . . . a concept that has always SUCKED since the time that game consoles prossessed the memory and storage capabilities to save a game at any point.  WoW is more the PC model, where you have the option of going pretty much right back to where you were and picking up from there.  LoTRO is more the traditional console model where you have a save point, and when you die you have to go backwards some or all the way before moving forward again.

Bad

Design

Decision.

*sigh*, I'm too tired to go back to the list for now, so I'll just say this--WoW's mechanics are better.  The add-ons make for a better gameplay experience.  The easy leveling and death penalty mechanics can be very compelling.

But LoTRO is the better game.  Flat.  Out.  No.  Question.

First, you have to have a computer to run it on a decent level of detail, but even medium detail will do for starters (that's the level of deatil I use when playing on my laptop).  LoTRO is gorgeous, and no amount of cartoonized crack is going to beat that.  It adds a level of immersion that WoW hasn't even approached.

The other thing about WoW is that I don't feel like I have any connection to what's happening.  It literally feels as if it would be the same game if I was running around doing the same thing int he Mario universe.  In other words, the way that Turbine has implemented the license material gives me (or someone in my demographic) a real sense of connection to what is happening.  True, there is much less diversity, but the connection to what is there makes those quests and those stories so much more effective.

I'll say this though, I have hita  patch in LoTRO that feels a bit too grindy.  I don't need a click-here-for-xp button, but I do need to feel like I don't need to put in a week's worth of work or more just to get from level 35 to level 36.  I hear this will go much more smoothly once I crack 40, but lately even though I have been doing some very cool things, it also feels in places like I am just grinding for grinding's sake, and that it's going more slowly than a carnival kiddie ride.  LoTRO's player base generally seems more collaborative and interested in grouping up to get things done, which I like a lot and helps get through the grind.

Both games though have excellent online resources, that that's been realy helpful.

I have a bunch of LoTRO screenshots from recent GA quests (Red Maid, Ivan), I'm going to post some of them soon.

As I get higher level, I am sure I will have additional thoughts.  Or, at least as many thoughts as I usually have, i.e. Ooooh, look, a shiny object!