As a long-time lurker but a new member, this is agonizing.. (ironically, I joined so I could PM folks without cluttering up threads)
I just got a message that I can't post either without the post being reviewed by a moderator.
I can understand needing to stop spambots but there has to be a better way..
How about limiting the number of PMs only if they don't generate a reply? In other words, every PM you send counts against your "new user limit", while PMs you receive back from established users subtract from that count (without letting it go negative). That would at least allow private conversations to take place without forcing participation in a bunch of different threads first..