I personally think three tags is as a maximum is fine. Even with three tags I sometimes tend to focus on two tags and sort of sneak in the last tag as time runs out :P Might just be me though.

I think 4 tags would be interesting. If you're really looking to limit yourself, 3 tags still allow for quite a bit of freedom. I'm not sure if 5 tags would be overdoing it though.

We actually tried 4 tags in the early private beta, but we removed it for a couple of reasons.

At the time the tag-generator wasn't as smart as it is now, so it had a high chance of generating a set that didn't go together well. But when it did, we felt like it was a bit too much to handle at the same time. 3 tags felt like more than enough.

The other reasons are a bit more about design. I like how the default setting is currently 2 tags so you can go either one step up or one step down, improving simplicity. Another reason is that 4 tags are harder to put in one line next to each other. I think that the tags are still very important to keep with the piece at all times, also when in viewing the piece in the gallery.. but 4 tags would not fit in most situations, making it harder for us to come up with slim designs.

If you guys really feel like 3 tags is too little or feel like it has priority over the design issues, please let us know !

The thing is 3 tags feels like the default to me. 1 tag is beginner mode (very easy), with 2 tags the possibilities are still huge (easy), and 3 tags feels comfortable (normal). So I kinda feel I'm missing a hard option.

But maybe that has to do with me being an avid user of the tag connecting tool. I've gotten used to thinking up design concepts with more than 3 tags. And every now and again I get a group of 4 or 5 tags that would really work well in a session together. Such as:
[Character] Hooded ~ Hunter ~ Experienced ~ Marks ~ Whip
[Environment] Market ~ International ~ Cheerful ~ Gold
[Creature] Psychic ~ Float ~ Deadly ~ Squishy ~ Mask
[Scene] Confined ~ Empathy ~ Sorrow ~ Blood ~ Touch
[Vehicle] Dig ~ Laser ~ Cargo ~ Fumes

As for the design issues, I took a look at public and personal galleries, and for every 3 tag piece it looked like the current design can handle another long tag added to it:

Maybe it didn't fit earlier because you were still using the old tag system that allowed multiple words, or maybe you made other changes since then, but it looks to me design-wise it's not much of a problem in the majority of the cases. I guess it could still go wrong if you combine 4 of the longest tags we have, but I think the chances of that happening regularly are not too great.

I would also really like to try out a session with 5 tags, but I can understand if that's too much.

Oh, but I just realized, at the tag connecting tool I have a personal database with thousands of self submitted tag connections! If I want to try sessions with many tags I can just pick 3 tags and use the magic of ctrl+F to manually "generate" the remaining tags. I just might try that.

OK so 4 tags will fit in some situations but still not all. I still feel it has too much downsides and feel like 3 tags is enough. If more artists think otherwise we're willing to try it out!

I'm really not a fan of adding to much settings to the sessions though.. I wouldn't like to have the sessions resemble the random idea generators with a hundred settings that are already on the web. I think that having fewer settings will make the sessions more remember-able and more fun to use as a community together.

I'm really appreciating your input though, Raizin!

Not sure if I agree with a lesser amount of tags being "easier". Too much freedom can be just as much of a challenge as too little. As said I personally think 4 tags is still do-able, but I can imagine it being quite a bit of trouble to implement and the gain isn't that much.

You're absolutely right. I guess I was talking specifically about the difficulty of combining the meanings of the tags into one and molding a design concept out of it. When you just have one tag it's easier to implement it in your design. But yes, it can be a lot harder to make your entire design revolve around that one word, or to come up with anything at all when you're out of inspiration.