The limit has been there since the start, and I think it may have been doubled since then. It's called the datablock limit. It limits the number of types of things that can appear, including playertypes, projectiles, items that you can pick up, sounds, items as they are held in your hand, vehicles, particles, and particle emitters. One weapon can have more than a dozen datablocks.
The datablock limit can't be changed by the hands of the user, only Badspot can. He isn't going to though. The limit is fairly high. If you reach it, you definitely have way too many add-ons enabled.