Feeling the love (Score 1, Interesting)

I've been playing LOTRO since closed beta, and I'm thoroughly hooked. It's obvious to me that the developers gave a lot of love, fun, and attention to the game: rainbows in the Shire, facial expressions that reflect your mood, the ever-annoying nosey/hungry hobbits, that lame man in Combe(!), emotes (picking a wedgie?), NPCs who remember your name and whether you've completed a quest for them as you walk by. It all works together so well to make you feel truly a part of the world. Were those delightful touches included in the master design, or did they just develop on their own as the game was built?