I played RS from 2001-2005 and even back then they were really into communicating with their players. I had a few times where I ran into Andrew Gower (rs maker) in the game and he actually talked with us. When they released new updates, if you were lucky to be on the right server at the right time, there would be Jagex staff on asking players what they thought and just having a fun time with the players.
I don't like the direction Jagex went with Runescape, but they are a pretty amazing company and manage the game well.