It was indeed a much better system in MO1, that actually had some substance and charm to it other than simply, boringly, holding a button.
To the complaint that it was macroed in MO1, who actually cares?
It doesn't have to be skill based, it just needs to be a more interesting, immersive, and fun little minigame that you get to play when adding a spell.
There are of course options as already mentioned to make it not macroable, but even if it is, the old system is still better than what we have now, and a downgrade ideally shouldn't happen in a sequel.
This complaint goes for many other professions as well, where the systems behind the professions are in depth and interesting, but the actual process for interacting with those systems is boring and only done through holding a single button.
That's really a topic for a new thread though.