No, there was a time when you could enchant but not repair. It took the staff a while to add repair, and it took them even longer to add erepair. I know this because I lost a pump axe to a normal repair after it was added, not knowing the difference.
If you fly around in legacy, you can find the areas where the old wild portals used to be. They are sites to behold, because there is a small 20x20 (or something like that) area of untouched wild surrounded by destroyed landscape that beats anything you'll find in the mining world. And then... you hear Nicolas Cage whisper, "and to think a bunch of guys with stone tools built all this."
Mmm, yeah, I remember the old wild portals. Untouched landscape for a few blocks, and then UTTER DESTRUCTION everywhere else. It was pretty much total chaos for me as a builder who knew nothing, trying to get going on making some cash. P.S. Yes, I'm qualified to post here. My forum acc is more than 4 years old, plus I was playing ECC for a few months before I made it.