History
It was said that Vaelastrasz the Corrupt kills guilds and The Rabble fell victim. In the midst of Blackwing Lair, Bloodshot formed in October of 2005 after, Malok, the leader of The Rabble, decided that he was going to quit World of Warcraft and wanted to take the name with him. Several prominent players left WoW along with The Rabble. Those that remained still wished to play and formed the first iteration of Bloodshot. Having only 15-20 members at the time made it impossible to progress in the 40-man dungeons of the time, leaving only Zul'Gurub for progression. In the off time, Bloodshot started running groups for Arathi Basin as a group activity. Bloodshot reformed into "Asian Lovers", a smaller group of players who still wanted to play together but with no real purpose. Deemed inappropriate by the authorities, Asian Lovers was disbanded by Blizzard and the players reformed into "Its a PUG".
In an attempt to carry on the PvE, Lloric convinced the remaining players to rejoin Bloodshot. Despite Lloric's efforts to carry on the PvE as well as assisting other guilds with raids, no real progress was being made and all the players' attentions were directed at Arathi Basin. Lloric and a few other die hard carebears transferred to Kil'Jaeden to continue PvE progress. The remaining Bloodshot members carried on PvPing, quickly making a name for themselves as one of the strongest Horde teams. Led by one of the greatest field leaders ever, Hoangn, they defeated better equipped teams through strategy and execution, employing every possible tactic available, including their very own Trojan Kodo. Not to be outdone, the Alliance's top team at the time, Notorious, brought out a team of Grand and Field Marshall's one evening and split 2 games with Bloodshot, showing that the alliance was still a force to be reckoned with. Undaunted, Bloodshot ran this team and built several Warlords and High Warlords of their own, making several new friends and enemies on both factions along the way.
But in World of Warcraft, guilds cannot exist on PvP alone. After several months of grinding their way up the ranks, the remaining players decided they needed to slay more dragons. To do this, they scouted several guilds with which to merge, finally deciding on "T A O". TAO was a group of individuals with similar interests to that of the remaining Bloodshot members: a need to progress in PvE for the sake of PvP. In January of 2006, Bloodshot merged with TAO and carried their PvP success into their PvE adventures, clearing Blackwing Lair after their first month of playing together. This carried on through successes in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, Warsong Gulch, Naxxramas, and Arathi Basin.
With the announcement of The Burning Crusade expansion, player interest and participation waned. By October, TAO declared that they would no longer be raiding due to lack of interest. Many soon left to find out what the Burning Crusade beta had to offer. In December of 2006, Keekles and a few others decided that they would bring Bloodshot back for The Burning Crusade. With this decision, the recruitment drive began. These members began building the list of names of people they wanted to join. Keekles made Hoangn an offer he couldn't refuse to bring him out of retirement. With him came Neoo, Silentin, Stealthin, Illmatic, Lloric, Mehmeh, and Jahroo and several more who had been a part of Bloodshot since it's inception.
And so Bloodshot was rebuilt.
Philosophy and Recruitment
Though Bloodshot was built upon guilds who were formed primarily for raid progression, it has evolved into something much more cohesive. Guilds that recruit solely for the purpose of progression may succeed, but ultimately create more burnout and have higher turnover. Many players list that their primary reason for playing is to play with friends. Bloodshot is centered around this reason. We play together because we're friends. We strive to achieve individual success to help our group of friends succeed and progress.
To this end, we also have room for friends of players who don't focus on end-game raid content, but want to be in the same guild with their friends who do. The rank of "Guild friend" serves this purpose and members can recommend any good friends to be included in this. We also have several families that play together, raiders and non-raiders alike.
"When a man's character is not clear to you, look at his friends." -Japanese Proverb
We usually don't have to openly recruit simply because we all have friends throughout World of Warcraft we can rely on to join our ranks and fill in the holes in our raids. Similarly, you will not get into Bloodshot if you don't already know someone in the guild. This serves to protect you and the guild. If you know someone in the guild, you'll be more comfortable interacting with the rest of the guild. They can tell you the in's and out's of the guild before you even join. It will help acclimate you to the guild in general. On the other hand, this also helps us assess you. The person who recommends you essentially takes responsibility for your success and your shortcomings.
Whether you are a founding member, new member, looking to join or just passing through, keep these ideas in mind for a successful guild. It is what drives Bloodshot.
