Addendum 2: On 'Kiting'
There are several different kinds of kiting. There is DOT (damage over time), DD (direct damage) kiting, arrow kiting, aggro kiting, fear kiting, etc. All 'kiting' techniques come down to one simple thing - doing damage to the target while minimizing damage one takes to oneself.
Kiting also relies on two things - being able to cause damage to a creature from a distance and the speed to keep ahead of a creature.
These can also be loosely termed 'hit and run' tactics. Successfully employed by the Mongols (circa 37 BC), game designers are constantly surprised when this two thousand year old tactic is employed by someone playing their game. What is just as shocking is that other players then whine that people should not be able to employ this millennia old tactic. It floors me when developers actually listen to these people.
1. Kiting should be planned for by developers - it has been around for 2000 years and is nothing new. Get used to it.
2. MOB AI must be improved - mindlessly following someone who is inflicting damage upon them while being unable to retaliate is bad AI.
3. Transportation used during 'kiting' must be able to be damaged/lost/destroyed. Vehicles/mounts should be an ongoing - not a one time cost. Certain types of transport should not be able to handle certain character weights. For example, a racehorse should not be able to accomodate a fully armored knight.
4. MOB's equaling xp/levels/instant items will discourage developers from having variable speed on monsters - some slower than players, some faster. The fear of 'easy xps' will cause developers to make irrational decisions in monster speed.
5. Different types of attack modes (sword, cold spell, etc) should inflict varying amounts of damage on creatures. Accuracy should suffer if someone is moving while firing. In an FPS game, this is built in. If not, the chance to 'score a hit' should be reduced by a determined amount.
In conclusion:
Kiting should be allowed in games - it just needs to be planned for a whole lot better.