If the problem is the big number of files, treating some blocks as pages sounds like a hack (and it could become a bigger problem when collaborating). At the very least, it increases the confusion between pages and blocks. It then comes as no surprise that some people are willing to abandon pages altogether.
Theoretically, the number of pages should not matter, and their size should not be a criterion:
- A big block is still a block, not a page.
- A small page is still a page, not a block.
- Multiple small pages are still pages, not blocks of another page.
The problem is not conceptual, so it should not question the conceptual distinction between pages and blocks (some explanation here). What if addressing the problem explicitly, having an option to save some pages together in the same file instead of one file per page, but otherwise treating them just like any other page? Similar to the option of hiding some pages from some views. Such options could be enabled either for a specific page or for all pages that have a specific property. In my opinion, that would be a cleaner solution.