Created in March of 2005 on Shadowmoon, Instinct began as a small guild designed by friends for friends. The guild had migrated from a b.net WarcraftIII clan that had persisted, in one form or another, for two years prior to the shift to an MMORPG. Since that time, Instinct has undergone several revisions without disbannment to suit the needs of the members; evolving into a PvE focused guild that raided off and on for over three years.
Though months behind the top guilds on the server, in July of 2005 the creators of Instinct determined it was time to turn the small, social guild into a host for raiding. Recruitment began in August, but it wasn't until October that Instinct began to raid. Initially it was simply 20-mans and joint-running of Molten Core with another upcoming guild named Unforeseen Prophecy. In December of 2005, Instinct began to run MC solely within guild. Downing Hakkar, Onyxia and Jin'do in January, Ragnaros in February, and Nefarian in May the guild progressed at a steady pace until reaching the Twin Emperors in August of 2006. Nearly a month passed before they were downed; Instructor Razuvious falling the following day.
The following week saw the departure of fifteen members - the remainder of September effectively splitting the active, raiding members of Instinct between lnstinct and Silver Reign. Originally continuing to recruit to recover from the loss, Instinct maintained casual raids that saw the downing of Nefarian and Fankriss before holidays demanded players' focus. To counter boredom, joint runs of BWL were also scheduled with another guild, Order, and saw the downing of Nefarian. Disagreement over player's ability and how to best handle Nefarian Phase I effectively terminated the joint runs within a month of the tenuous formation. 20-man instances were still regularly scheduled as well as an increased focus upon battlegrounds conducted in-guild.
The guild officially discontinued raiding in December until the Burning Crusade, lending players much needed time to focus on the entertainment aspects of the game as opposed to the anticipated grind to reach raiding status again under a raised level cap.
The expansion saw the rerolling of several active, key raiders and a shifting of the raid core until late February when Karazhan raids officially began for the guild. The summer saw the establishment of two, full-clearing Karazhans, Gruul's Lair cleared, Magtheridon and The Lurker Below downed. Early October saw the deaths of Hydross, Doom Lord Kazzak and Void Reaver with a bolstered strength that drew upon core members from Lost Soldiers and the more refined players from lnstinct. Progress continued in both The Eye and Serpentshrine Cavern until November where the release of Zul'Aman slowed 25 man raid progression in favor of clearing the newly released instance. Lady Vashj and Kael'thas found their ends in early 2008 before the release of 2.4, admitting the lnstinct core into both Black Temple and the Battle for Mount Hyjal.
Progress was steady for several months, slowed by the deterioration of raiding across multiple servers as suffered by the release of patch 2.4. By May, both Archimonde and Gurtogg Bloodboil had been slain but membership attendance staggered under the pressure of college finals, graduating seniors, and the release of other compelling games. For the first time since it's inception, Instinct took an official break from raiding for a reason other than winter holidays.
The guild bank was liquidated after an exhaustive auditing of donations via Blizzard's online armory. Members received back what they had donated and if the exact items could not be replaced, they were given gold and/or items of equal or greater market value. Epic gemstones and hearts of darkness obtained by raiding were distributed based upon attendance and raid participation in BT and Hyjal.
Despite avid discussion to return to raiding throughout June, it wasn't until middle of July that this proposal was put to action. After a series of guild-wide discussions, the infrastructure and focus of the guild was redefined. A sluggish server population greeted our efforts and forced us to reconsider our options. A guild-wide ventrilo meeting was held in August, with subsequent forum discussion, whereupon it was determined that those who desired to raid under lnstinct would do so as horde on Mal'Ganis.
Through recruitment and successful rerolls, lnstinct completed 10-man raids of Naxxramas, Malygos, and Obsidian Sanctum while hosting the 25-man variations. By January, server politics and declining participation in the guild created an atmosphere that allowed us to accept being absorbed into another guild to pursue a higher level of raiding. Joining Sanguine Prophecy not long after, original lnstinct members filtered in and out of the guild as interest levels shifted. Members are currently scattered between Alliance and Horde on multiple servers, though they're largely concentrated as Alliance on Shadow Moon and Horde on Mal'Ganis. Cell phones, forums, and ventrilo are routinely used as a means to maintain contact.
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