Originally Posted by
Kalarm
Erm they weren't? The rotation was made of Stormstrike, lava lash, frost (earth pre-WoD) and flame shock, unleash element and finally lightning bolt and chain lightning. Only LB (for ST) and CL (for AoE) needed maelstrom for instant cast. If you were in PVP you would usually use maelstrom to cast healing wave but that's about it. Some raids I've casted healing rains too. Totems also did not need any maelstrom.
It was far from having a bar filled with things you can't cast. That was part of the fun of it. Hell if you had 4 charges and nothing to press it was actually better to cast LB then wait. If you had a phase in the fight where you can't get close to the boss, you could still throw weaker LB and CL from far + your shocks. If anything the current enh is more limiting, there is a lot more stuff that required maelstrom.