Hi Mike, You are asking the wrong question. Why do we need to restrict the op_return field? Restricting it is not preventing anyone from using large op_returns. Also, you are not a customer of core and running 3 nodes doesn't give you any votes. If you want to run knots, go ahead. The disadvantage will only be yours because you won't get accurate fee predictions and you just be a part of a silo'd sub-network of the Bitcoin network with limited knowledge of the rest of the network. Nobody needs to convince you because your nodes don't matter to anyone but you, especially if they won't relay valid transactions.