Tide is a World of Warcraft Alliance guild on the Ravencrest server; formerly on Perenolde. It was started by a group of real life friends shortly after the game launched in 2004. The original members were fans of the Alabama Crimson Tide, thus the guild's name and battle cry of "Roll Tide!" Many of the founding members have left the game but Tide continues to roll.

Tide is difficult to classify. We're successful raiders but we're not a hardcore guild. We're very easy going but we're more focused than a casual guild. We've got members that PvP but we're not a PvP guild. Several websites ago we described ourselves as a "family guild that enjoys raiding" and that seems to be the best way to say it.

The majority of our members are adults and value mature behavior. We do allow non-adults to join but we expect them to be capable of operating in-game at an adult level. We ask that our members watch their language in public as many of us have children who might be eavesdropping. We want to be respected on the server and so ask that our members be good citizens. We expect all of our members to listen to and consider each other's situations when dealing with loot and opportunities.

Beyond having a mature outlook on the game there are no fixed requirements for membership. We prefer that applicants be at a level where they'll have something to do in-guild though. We never force a member to change specs or to choose one character over another. We try to achieve some level of class balance through recruiting but it is rarely perfect.

Most raids are planned by the guild's leadership. These raids are posted on the website and any guild member who's qualified can sign up. Signing up does NOT guarantee an invite to the raid. In fact there are no guarantees at all when it comes to raid slots. Members who work hard on their character's development and play with skill may be invited more often but everybody gets left out sometimes. Members are expected to be good sports about raid slots and to communicate with the leadership if they feel that they're being left out too often.

We have two raiding "teams". One is progression focused, has some limited requirements, and uses DKP. The other team is more casual. We ask all our members to "roll with honor"; that is to make an investment in the raid's success and consider the greater good before deciding to roll on an item. Members who frequently don't follow this principle may be drawn into a discussion with the leadership and may not be invited to raids as often.

In exchange for some uncertainty with raid slots and loot our members get freedom. If you need to take time off it's no big deal. We believe very strongly that "RL > WoW".

Tide is an environment that we've created to make it fun to play. We try to provide something to do and people to do it with while avoiding drama. It's our attempt to shape the game around our lives. It isn't the right guild for everyone, but many of our members say that they'd have quit the game by now if not for Tide.

Do you think Tide might be the right guild for you? Use this website to apply. We'll be in touch.

I'd like to add a little more information about our raid teams, in an effort to anticipate some questions that new applicants often ask.

Our progression-oriented raid team runs on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights from 8:15 - 11:15, but invites begin at 7:45PM server time.  Raiders are expected to sign up at least an hour in advance on our website, be ready at invite time with full consumables, and should always be knowledgable of the appropriate strategies.  We require 50% attendance from our raiders and very much prefer our initiates to have at least 75% availability so that we can try to get to know you better.  We use a dkp system, but it still has its origin in the "rolling with honor" mentioned by Rev above.  Initiates do not earn or spend dkp, but often find themselves receiving gear upgrades nonetheless.

Our casual members generally raid on Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday nights.  We have absolutely no attendance requirements for our casual raids, and try to make sure that all members interested in raiding get a taste of it as their availability allows.  Our casual team generally runs 10-man content as well as old-world instances just for achievements or nostalgia.  While there are no rules regarding consumables and strategies, we respect each others' time enough that even our casuals do their homework regarding boss fights and bring flasks/pots/food to every raid they attend.  These raids use no dkp, but we always do our best to "roll with honor".

It's also probably important to note that we no longer recruit casual members unless they're specifically recommended by current Tide members.  Our casual team is made up of friends and family members, as well as former raiders whose real life schedules have become too hectic for raiding.

If you think Tide might be the right place for you, but have questions first, feel free to contact one of our members in game, they'll let you know which officer or veteran is online and available to chat.

Edited by Darktalyn at August 7th, 2009 - 2:05 pm