*blows off the dust* I'm not sure why this wasn't implemented. Nearly everyone seems to be in agreement. It's completely optional, and doesn't add much complexity. I thoughtf memory serves, we had a "Retired Characters" subforum on HS. A player could request to move a character there; or if a member went inactive for a (then-specified period of time), his or her characters might be moved there regardless. Personally, I'd move all of my characters to such a subforum, since I don't have much intent of using them again...
I think some other things came up before this could be implemented, but thanks for blowing off the dust, I suppose. I would still like to do this as well, if possible.