What about not deleting the stuff at all, so you can do away with the vacation switch too? I wouldn't touch a site that stresses me at all about my data.

I'd lose the karma reward too. It's plain bribery, and it devaluates your site's karma.

You're right, on both counts. Simpler's better. We wanted to help motivate people.. But treating it like a game is probably the wrong way to do it.