I think the only way anyone ever got a 99 without really trying, would be fishing, woodcutting or hp. Fishing - if thats how they made money in f2p (lobs, swordies) and mass farmed it to either sell to RWT'ers or for their own gain Woodcutting - obviously to make money HP - Slayer would make HP fly by.
Back when you got actual drops, that people were carrying. Not by some randomly generated items, depending upon how long you stay in a hot pking spot or whether you have a certain value of stuff on you or not.
100% agree. im going for 99 fletching (my first as a level 3 skiller) and even though cheap it still takes a while, (i dont nolife it) However, I do enjoy the skill. I just find it fun, not a forced thing or boring thing.