This is the list of Expectations for our group:

Hello, and welcome to StarbucksPebbles, a FFXI Linkshell on Odin server!

Although we are indeed fans of coffee, our name is in fact not derived from the popular retailer but rather from the parable of Starbuck’s Pebbles, which first appeared in the Principia Discordia a year or two before the first similarly-named coffee shop opened its doors.

The parable goes as follows:

Do these 5 pebbles REALLY form a pentagon? [INSERT PEBBLE GRAPHIC]
Those biased by the Aneristic Illusion would say yes. Those biased by the Eristic Illusion would
say no. Criss-cross them and it is a star. [INSERT SYRIN/STRUMMER GRAPHIC]

An Illuminated Mind can see all of these, yet he does not insist that any one is really true, or that none at all is true. Stars, and pentagons, and disorder are all his creations and he may do with them as he wishes. Indeed, even so the concept of number 5.

The real reality is there, but everything you KNOW about "it" is in your mind and yours to do with as you like. Conceptualization is art, and YOU ARE THE ARTIST.

Never mind the mumbo-jumbo about the Eristic and Aneristic Illusions and the number 5 if you’re not familiar with Discordianism. We’re not a Discordian linkshell by definition and we’re certainly not trying to convert anyone, although the Principia is a fun and worthwhile read and is highly recommended to all regardless of race, religion, or choice of subjob.

Our philosophy of FFXI is really somewhat analogous to the parable of Starbuck’s Pebbles. Square-Enix provided us with a playground and a structure for progression, but really, no one ever declared: “Your goal is to be teh leetest, to swagger down the Port Jeuno thoroughfare with your e-peen swinging triumphantly before you, to be a “gil”lionaire, to see your enemies driven before you and to hear the lamentations of their women.” We, the players, take it upon ourselves to define the brunt of our interactions in Vana’diel.

If you want to play to be the best on the server, that’s fine and best of luck to you. It’s your fifteen bucks a month and all that. We just think it’s silly to believe that’s the only way to play, or worse: to judge those who don’t believe similarly to be lacking.

We do not endorse gear-snobbery; however, neither do we diminish the time and effort it takes to obtain nice gear. If said achievements evoke pride in you – great! You’re in good company! We share a passion for this world and for our progress therein. The point is, you have probably been playing this game long enough to know that there are achievements and progress beyond gil, leet gear, and general e-peenery. There are matters of camaraderie, teamwork, friendship, and support that are every bit as valuable – or more so! – than that relic… or mythic… or empyean… or whatever we have waiting for us at level 99…

The best greed is the greed to help one another out. Whether we’ve met IRL or not is irrelevant. Regardless of the degree to which this game is an escape for you, it is still a human society in form and function. As human beings we have basic responsibilities to be tolerant and reasonable and understanding. We won’t always be. Mistakes will happen. People will have bad days. But we can strive to be civil and decent and constructive, and the more we do the less the Drama Torama will rear its ugly head. We love the Golden Rule but we feel Bill and Ted summed it up even more succinctly with just five words: “Be excellent to each other.”