Why not just make kicks like they are in native?
Because blocking while kicking is retarded.
While the range and turn on the kick was weird at first (specifically getting hit while the kicker retracts his foot, even though that rarely gave them a free hit) , I definitely prefer them to the old kick. With decent anticipation at least 9 kicks out of 10 should be dodged, and now you can get a free hit in when they do. High risk and high reward, I like that. When you could kick and block you'd have players like Hearst in 70 body armour and a strength build with a greatsword kicking every time the cooldown was over and blocking everything with ease. Fighting players like that before the change with a 3-directional weapon or a weapon with a crap stab was a genuine pain in the ass. Not taking anything away from Hearst though, he's a good two-hander, he just abused the previously OP kicks because it was an easy way to get the multiplier.
I don't care if they nerf the AoE, how long it's active or the range of it to reduce the amount of tears, just please don't give back the blocking.