I think they're on the right track, turning griefing into a playstyle is the best route to take. Obviously, Vespian, there are some outliers on the bell curve of griefing who do it with chat, or only do it to certain people, but I think most of us, writers and readers, have run into enough of a certain psychological profile to have a common understanding of what a "griefer" is, just as we have a common understanding of "blue," another subjective concept. I do think the subjective nature of it prevents a "zero tolerance" policy, as many of us would like, but I think it can still be addressed, on the whole.

I think bounties are the first step towards "accommodating" griefers and gankers into gameplay. Using NPCs to hound them, must in the way GTA does, is a great step forward. Sending out progressively stronger NPCs, just as GTA does, is a way to further curb extreme ganking habits, though I'd suggest a much longer warm up and cool down time that a console game, in keeping with the pace of the MMO.

I've always dreamed of turning gankers against each other. If there were some psychological reward for them attacking others with similar kill counts, that'd be awesome. Any shrewd manipulation should point that way. If you can make other gankers seem like marks for a griefer, you've got gold, I say. Gold.