I guess I'm a trifle confused as to why anyone would go out of their way to farm motifs. I've got four principle alts, each of which is equipped with all the basic racial motifs. Usually, I look in no more than five buildings on one alt daily -- rarely, I'll do it with more than one alt daily. Searching through stuff in buildings/houses just isn't something I enjoy very much. Still, I've got half a dozen unused motifs on one of my mules, and I've already deleted several just because I needed the space.

Deleting motifs? Whuh? Truth is, in the time required to hunt down the basic motifs then try to sell them for the amount they currently get I can be out gathering materials worth far more than the time and effort required to deal with motifs.

Each to his/her own, I suppose, but to me motifs are more a PITA than anything else. As to purposely exploiting a game mechanic (though I consider it a cheap exploit) why on earth bother with it. In due course you'll get all the motifs anyway -- again, seems like such a waste of time.

EDIT: Motifs have no intrinsic value other than the 115 xp garnered from initially learning them per alt. If you're a crafter, motifs may have some value down the road in allowing to craft diverse styles, but why anyone would expend additional effort trying to gather them in a hurry escapes me completely. Probably has something to do with instant gratification, but who knows. Contrariwise, gathering materials has a number of benefits -- additional materials from refining, the ability to make items for self or sale, and outright vendoring refined materials to NPCs.

Gads, wrote way too much about such an inconsequential subject. But back to the point: NO I cannot see the devs banning people for engaging in such a worthless activity.