I agree. But your suggestions could use some adjustments:
- Getting to level 5 is fast and easy... at about level 10 is when people start to party and join FATE groups, so that might be a better requirement.
- Character limits are fine, as long as you can still write out a decent amount of text.
- A delay or "wait time" between messages might work, and I've seen it used in several MMOs.
It would be nice to be able to log in to the game or enter a new area, and not be bombarded with all that gold spam.