In discussion with Civil about something else, both (1) the 1000 limit and (2) marking the message one seeks in Conversations came up.

(re 1) I was told that they have done research on length, and 1000 characters (understood as roughly two significant paras) came out as the right length, so I suspect you will find resistance on that one. I am afraid I would find 1500 only a slight improvement. When I get going, I just keep going. I am actually finding the 1000 character limit as helpful in trimming the fat from comments (not visible, I'm sure, but helps me). What I would like to see is some sort of convention emerge as to how to continue a comment, and some way to ensure that multiple posts stay together. 

(re 2) As for finding comments, I was told this is on their list. My practice is to grab a chunk of the reply I am looking for, and use "Find" to search for those words within the Conversation presented. Certainly faster than hide and seek in a longish conversation. 

(continued)