My thoughts regarding the requirements:

[1] 5 posts requirement:

What if instead of going for quantity, we go for quality of the post?

With the five posts requirement, I find myself asking questions, or posting comments that I know I am not personally as enthusiastic or interested in.

Perhaps in the future, if we could either require 5 posts or 1 to 2 substantive post. This is based purely on the length of the message.

I find that usually lengthy posts are ones where individuals have lots to say, and therefore are really engrossed in the subject.

Don't we want to promote that kind of forum? Rather than just random rambling such as "this is my 5th posts, yah!"?

Instead, we have consolidated thoughts all in one post where each individual member can say their one big piece, and then get engrossed into the community.


[2] Time Requirement:

Instead of 4 hours on the forum, I would suggest lowering it down to 2 or 3 hours. I believe that is a sufficient amount of time for barrier.

People such as myself join the Bitcoin Talk community to engage and contribute back.  Therefore while I do understand the restriction, I think it is also important to find the right balance between proper deterrence and appropriate encouragement of a constructive community.

A third option

Perhaps we can have a mandatory video viewing. Those that are truly interested, may pay acute attention, those that do not, continue to do what they do. This way, those that would like to learn more about Bitcoin and the forum, would be well informed.