I’m not going to give you a canned response about our guild looking for people, as we’re probably about as far removed from what you’re wanting as possible, but you sound like our kind of people, so I thought I’d give it a shot anyway.
I’m raid leader for a small raid community group (we don’t expect server transfers/guild joining if people are happy where they are or just don’t want to spend the money) currently progressing through Normal Castle Nathria (8/10), but at our own pace. We love raiding, but we love raiding with each other. Our mentality once upon a time was to try and push hard, get into Mythic level and all that, but those days and availability are far behind us. Now, we just want to move at our own pace, with a select group of laid-back individuals who share the same mindset of “if we win, we do it together, if we wipe, we do that together too.” Our roster is full of people who, like you, were looking for something that hardcore/fly-by-night “progression” guilds couldn’t offer - good, honest people who just want to have fun with the game and maybe actually see the end of the raid that tier while it’s still relevant. Without a lot of drama, or toxic behavior, etc. We have in our raid both male and female members, couples, LGBT members, but all laid-back, nerdy introverts. We have all seen our own version of toxic hate and elitism from other groups, so I like to think that’s why we’re still around and going strong - playing together has always been more important. Treating each other like people, having fun, working together has always been more important. And, more than a couple of us have social anxiety as well. We’re not going to pressure anybody into anymore awkward situations than just playing together and getting through an encounter. A couple of us prefer to chat instead of use comms - that’s been good enough for the first 8 bosses so far. ./shrugs
The rough and tumble, though, is that we decided to jump from Horde to Alliance this expansion for a different experience. After years on Horde, our raiders decided to change things up. Also, I’m happy you found your calling in Tanking. It’s a role I myself played for years without looking back and God knows we need more good ones in the game. Sadly, we’re really looking for solid DPS players to help grow our group a bit (though a tank-offspec could come in handy every now and again). Our goal is to get up to a solid 12-14 players so that, in the event somebody can’t raid that particular night or “life happens”, the group can continue without anybody feeling like they’ve let somebody down and cost us a raid night. Because our people are such good people and introverted, that’s how it classically happens.
Truth is, there is no way of us knowing whether or not we would be a good fit for you and you for us unless we played together, but like I said, you sounded like good people and what we have been looking for, so I couldn’t pass up the chance to at least respond to your post. Ultimately, I hope you and your group find a good place to settle that gets you what you’re looking for and keeps you playing long-term. However, if you’re at all interested or I can answer any questions about our group, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Good luck with your search! The right group of people is out there, it just might take a few tries to find them.
Battletag: ChaosWhite#1873
Server: Blade’s Edge
Toon: Sintenelle