[nullnilvoid]

The problem with rate limiting is to distinguish a normal user from a spammer. A normal user can send more requests than usual sometimes. If a normal user gets rate-limited by mistake, you are going to get lots of upset users.

[vacri]

Rate-limiting is also used to protect against legitimate users who have made mistakes in config (or are poorly-skilled), not just spammers. It's much better to let them know why things aren't working than actively lie about it.