I understand what you're saying with your second idea there. The only reason why I put a character limit on the Character Description/Bio area was because I didn't want spammers adding endless amounts of data into the database and filling it up with useless garbage. However, the Board of Moderation on The Elder Stats seems to be doing an excellent job catching spammers and rule-breakers, so I don't see why I couldn't get rid of the character limit for the Character Description/Bio area. I was thinking about this before, but I was waiting to see if anyone would say anything.
Now, about your first idea, I suppose I could raise the maximum resolution to 1280 x 1024. The main reasons why I kept the maximum resolution at 950 x 950 were:
1) because images any larger in width than 950px would exceed the width of the website, and
2) because some people with smaller monitor resolutions would have to scroll to see the pictures fully. But, I don't think it would be too difficult to allow the character photos to exceed the width of the website. I could find a way to make it look nicer.
Thanks for your suggestions. I'll implement them soon.