In my experience, wordpress is easier to hack, not harder.

Regarding your experience, I think that TV shows do the same trick... suspend it for a week, or change the schedule and see who follows...

On my web site, I've done the same thing... when deciding whether a page should be removed or not, I just go ahead and remove it temporarily, and if nobody complains, then I just kill it. Sometimes people care enough to bug you about it, and then you know you are offering a good service.

I doubt people would miss my blog, but maybe, one day, I'll screw it up just to see...