couldnt reply to this earlier due to exams, but here we go
personally, i like the idea because it could grow to another help service operating on a different field than the helpers list,
namely offering a more personal, intense and especially long term oriented assistance for a single person seeking help.
of course, more close relationships and aid over a longer period of time is possible in the helpers list, too,
but usually people were contacted with specific questions or offering their help in single threads.
thats why i do not think this service would be unnecessary or needless because we have something similar already,
but in contrast i see a huge potential of this thread to develop and become another piece of the whole project of helping people playing ladder slasher.
about a year back, the helpers list was mainly founded as an additional service to answer specific questions in the discussion forums
by experts able and above all willing to take the time and effort to help.
back then, there was no ls portal, the number of guides was much smaller, a lot of them not up to date any more.
as a beginner, one usually had a much harder time to get into the game and develop. ( e.g. no catacombs, lower drop rates and so on )
a number of players with a certain desire to play the game got lost in this and did not have the motivation to continue.
hence this service should help to encourage the community to increase helping activity especially for starters in need of help
and raise the general activity in the (sub)forum to make people aware that they will receive help there if they ask.
many people did not dare or bother to ask or eventually didnt know where to ask before because their questions were not answered or it took quite a lot of time.
therefore they e.g. pmed people they thought might be able to help e.g. because they wrote a guide once, but some of them did not have the time or had already retired.
naturally, this situation was not ideal because finding help was quite tricky. as a result, a number of players didnt ask at all and quit sooner or later or used the main forums.
but this way people seeking help should receive a kind of orientation who to contact for certain questions and fields also depending on the language spoken.
it should be made easier people to find places for help like the guide collection, sub forums and such and to receive this help afterwards.
in general, we can certainly say the situation improved a lot in the meantime. of course, there is always something to improve, but we are on a very good path now.
there are more guides, the ls portal, projects and a broader desire in the community to help each other which will be to the benefit of everyone in the end.
The beginners of yesterday, and remember each of us had to start somewhere, will become the pros of tomorrow.
They will become active slashers for their guilds, catacomb partners, trading partners and so on. Sooner or later everyone will profit from such a development.
The game is meant to be played as a group, helping each other and relying on each other.
e.g. if you see and rage about no catacomb games being open or people in your games having no idea what to do or the market being not in the best situation
you should ask yourself for the "why?" and how this can be improved.
complaining about this will not change it. everyone willing to get active and help on this will contribute a large part to make this situation better.
if you help someone and explain him the basics of a catacomb run for instance, he has the chance to improve and can pay this back as a stronger player next time.
and of course, you and everyone else will profit from this if catacomb runs are played by people who know what they do
To conclude, i would say this is the reason everyone with an honest desire to help
and every project with this aim should be supported to the benefit of the whole community and the whole game in the end.
from my own experience, i know that it is not easy at times to run such projects and there will always be difficulties coming up.
but if you have the endurance to go on and continue to put your efforts into it, it will work in the end and many players will be very glad and thankful to receive this aid.