LOTRO will be vastly different because the Devs have said, explicitly, that at endgame, there will be four viable paths to obtaining gear: solo hunting, (6-man) fellowship hunting, crafting, and raiding. And that all four of these options will yield gear of equivalent power.

That is the difference.

So no one in LOTRO will ever be in a position of feeling they must raid in order to "keep up with the Joneses." Those who raid in LOTRO will raid knowing that, indeed, the gear available to them will not be "more powerful" than gear available elsewhere. So why will they do it? To have fun, to see something new, to experience the thrill of battle on a larger scale than other aspects of the game offer. In other words...for fun.

Similarly, for those who really want to be "uber," who want to have the best-of-the-best gear in the game, they too will have a choice. They can acquire that either by focusing on being a master crafter, or on being awesome at small group hunting, or soloing, or raiding. So there still is "uber" gear to get out there, it's just that, there will be multiple pathways to get it. All the pathways will be involved, all will take lots of time and be very difficult...but all will be viable. I think this is what the player base of LOTRO wants, and this is what the Devs have given us.

Yay Turbine. Nicely done