I'll hazard a guess that it's the specific server and not the state of the game. I can only speak to several of the U.S. servers that I have characters but on those there are always a lot of chatter happening.
My suggestion would be to head over to the specific server forums here and ask around for anybody on your server ands see if you can meet up with them in game.
Good luck
“I do not love the bright sword for it's sharpness, nor the arrow for it's swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend”
[charsig=http://lotrosigs.level3.turbine.com/032020000000ff51a/01003/signature.png]Kathas[/charsig]