How I found my raiding guild

One of my biggest challenge on this server was finding a guild I could raid with.

Indeed, I should have thought about raiding before I joined this server and leveled to 60. That is because due to work and social reasons I can hardly play at night before 20:00 CEST. It did not occur to me that it could end up being important when I started on Kronos. But it was. Actually, it was incredibly important to me. To the point of making me think about leaving the server, as raiding is one of my favorite aspect of the game.

30 minutes later this zone will be empty and raiders will be raiding. The raid is already full.

While on retail I could deal with this by joining a late-night raiding guild (Kazzak is full of them), here the overall population is plenty lower (peaking at 1200+ total characters online on very good nights). This was a big problem as the great majority of guilds on the Horde side start raiding at 19:00 CEST or 19:30 [1], which means I could not attend on time. And not being able to attend on time means I have a lower chance of being invited, it means I do not get the Dragonslayer buff (I am thus less competitive) and even if I come there may not be spots left for me. 

Current raiding hours of some Horde guilds. Onslaught is from NA. <Friends> starts at 19:30.

For days I asked on the world channel about guilds raiding later or accepting late-comer. Not only did I not find one, some did not even bother answering my questions and told me to go find a different server. I was exhausted. All this leveling, all these efforts to gear up and stuck because my playtime doesn't match the Horde's? At this point I pondered about switching Nostalrius*. A lot.

... That is, until a fateful night where a priest I had just met during a Stratholme run mentioned that his guild, <Friends> was looking for warlocks. I thusly doubtfully explained my situation and limitations to him and he insisted I talk to an officer. This officer was Smooglab. And not only did he take the time to listen to my concerns, he showed interest, understanding and cared about what would happen to me. The rest is history.

Last discussion I have had before I was in <Friends>.

Hence I would say that what made me find my guild was a combination of luck, patience, perseverance and finding the right people. But to all those that would read me : Think before you join a private server and think well.

*For some reason the idea of exchanging my character against an Alliance one did not come to my mind, but it is absolutely a possibility with the Twinstar website