I can't speak for the actual community since I didn't play the game but from the replies I saw LOTRO was unanimously heralded as having a dedicated community who sticks true to the lore of the franchise.
The bigger issue was end-game. That said, I don't know how the Free to Play has affected the community because I didn't even play the game at all but just saying, from the comments around the net, it doesn't have the reputation of WoW.