So far, it sounds like existing characters may end up surviving all the way to the developed game. Even if this is not the case, a wipe does not prevent the carrying over of 'social assets', and so things done today are likely to still have an effect in the future.
I do, however, appreciate that we should be trying to test things out. However, other people are also making steel (which I will hopefully also get the chance to steal, sometime

. Also, I consider this an important test in itself, one of a gameplay mechanic. While your attitude seems alright to me, there are those who consider sabotage in any form to be griefing. I ask those people to read Jorb's original post on steelmaking, it states "If the crucible goes out, or if all coal units are removed from it, the steelmaking process is reset." Now, think about this. For what other reason would anyone remove all the coal? I am reasonably sure that, while not necessarily encouraging it, Jorb was well aware of this possibility in advance. I am not one to break rules (I have shown that I will even punish myself for breaking a certain code of honour), and if the staff actually say 'for the moment, please don't sabotage steelmaking, let's test everything out', then I'll comply.