It was a real thing, and you can see the agents talking about what they typically do in the beginning of the first mission. The reason the missions are, well, missions is explained thus:

Claudia sat bolt upright, her face twisted in anger and disbelief. “Gilthoniel, a Elbereth,” she muttered, glaring venomously at the window that had popped up on the screen. “Apparently all the assassins are busy,” she said to the confused Ella.

“What does that mean?” Ella asked, hoping the answer was not what she thought it was.

“It means we get to play assassin.”
This sort of thing—Suefics getting sent to anyone not nailed down or on fire—happened a lot back in the day. You could say it's sort of a tradition.

But anyway, as to whether or not it could be revived... eh, I'm not so sure. We have a policy these days of not writing about the authors and keeping our comments solely on the writing. This way, we avoid (most) accusations of bullying.

However, there's nothing stopping you from actually giving people concrit and trying to help them improve their stories. In fact, I would encourage this! Just make sure to actually give concrit, not flames. Save your snark for the privacy of the Board.

I suppose there might be a way to get a PPC story out of it, assuming the author is willing, but I confess I don't know how. Maybe someone else will have an idea?

~Neshomeh