The torque converter has a clutch in it, for lock up, as you probably know. It does sound like your converter clutch is stuck on, at least partially.
To get a good picture of how the converter works take two desk fans and point them at each other. Turn one on high and see what the other one does.
That is basically the torque converter. Two fans in a 5 quart tub of tranny fluid. When you come to a stop the fluid just bounces off the fan that drives the tranny and you go no where but the engine can still run fine. When the clutch stays stuck on it's like driving a stick with no clutch pedal. If you don't pop it back in N the engine will die.
As to not revving above 3K, unless you are rolling I'm gonna go with normal all the way around. There is a rev limiter that will kick in about 3K in park and neutral. If you are trying to do this in gear, I've never seen an auto hit 3K in gear at a stop without roasting the tires off.