Survival of the fittest

I have long wondered how TDD survived its time since its small beginnings. We where humble, a little bruised and dis-heartened during its formation, but we where hardened by our experiences, our troubles and strife's.
First TheBlackRoses, DarkStorm, then back to TheBlackRoses and then to DUTY, and now TDD. A history spanning 3 years under the name of Nadiastorm for all the guilds except Duty, where I was content as the raid leader.
The truth of it is we have survived together as a group of online friends, up against the raid race of other guilds on Khadgar. And kept true to our values of game play and honourable conduct. And now we are on the dawn of something new to us, which is absorbing another guild.
Usually we would ask for applications as a general rule, however if this was to be the case, something quick would need to be done to avoid separation of the co-operation. We have a short listing of those folk, and tonight I will be discussing the details with 2 of their senior members.
Much like the co-op it is an offer of invitation, their GM knows that we are not interested in any merger of any kind due to our past experiences, and being like TDD is, there is no issue of power or dominance with our guild structure, just plain and simple rules a set out as we have learned from experience.
We had quite the chat in TDD last night on ventrillo, and broaching the subject with the guild had me a little on edge as to what their reaction to it would be. On one side of the fence you have 10-13 active players who you know will be equipped for the job of raiding 25 mans, and on the other you have the social intrusion of 1 establish guild social structure intruded by the previous administration of a former guild. How that mix would blend with 10-13 member suddenly introduced into TDD would be a guessing game. However, our experiences with the guild have been positive, however the newer members seem very hard work, as you and I know as all new members can be, to get them up to speed with raid organisation and preparation. It's a lot of patience and instruction, and I don’t think we have the time for that, to go backwards to come forwards again.
TDD is now past the point where we are stuck with Karazhan, and I am looking forward to the guild pushing into ZA more frequently. And at the same time being able to establish its 25 man raiding team too. Again, this is another step in progression as a guild towards something more set in stone than something which is a quick fix to get us by. Confidence is high, and so is morale, and I like to see it continue that way, by what ever means possible if required.