In my mind, the problem sprung directly from how people decided exactly what was allowed in online Kohan and what was not. The engine, while great at doing so many other things, had many unintended quirks that people learned to exploit over the years, and they did. Unfortunately, the same engine quirks that are used mostly for innocuous things (engage/retreat dancing summoners to get more than a single golem per fight, for instance) could (and would) also be used for evil. This made any kind of "exploit" label subjective, because for any new trick a precedent for something similar would already exist.
Pressed dancing with a shadeling is illegal (it was outlawed way, way back), for instance, but engage/retreat dancing with the shadeling (a much more recent discovery) is permissible. The actual game effect of these tricks is identical; only the technique and the micro required is different.
Kohan: Ahriman's Gift is still leagues ahead of any other RTS though. I'll always treasure my copy
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My Kohan alias was Setsuna, by the way.