Though it seems the system could be made better by just increasing the frequency of the checks. It isn't clear if it's done (only) on login or at some other time(s), but couldn't it be done, say every few days, like at each reboot a script would go through every pfile above L10 (before anyone is logged in, to avoid possible lag spikes), and check for any over-limit item in the pfile which doesn't meet the required play time for keeping it, and then flag it for the purging message for whenever the player happens to log in the next time?

Anyways, I think I'll now be even more wary of grabbing any high-end limited gear that I happen to come across (unless I'm pretty sure of consistent play time in the near future).