ebolt always prepped hally fast cast or not.
the only difference is that people back then ... people as in everyone on the shard like here.. didnt have access to or knowledge of macros and how to use them.
not everyone had uo assist, most pvpers did but not all of the population like uosa and razor.. its required here to login.
the problem i see remaining is with interuption delays... once we nail that down the "feel" will be right. i can tell you during era that i used harm and my halberd more than actual spells on my tank at times. especially trying to fight o/c townies. for pking fast casting ebolts with halby was the way to go

era pvp was great so pvp here should follow suit as we move closer to 100%.