I played it almost over a year ago for the first time. I thought it was alright, it was actually really fun because I was playing with a couple of people. Most of the gamers I've met on there are actually really cool. My main problem is that it feels very restrictive. I got on recently again and it said I had to be a Level 10 just to message someone. I'm not a huge MMO guy, but I think that's sort of ridiculous. I've pondered getting a membership and even the new expansion Revenge of Revan, but I don't know about that.
Honestly a lot of features are locked down unless you pay up or were an early adopter of the game. I only played it for the story rather than the MMO aspect because it just doesn't have the same experience as something like WoW or GW2.