Pretty Words
Pandora. The content you want, when you want it.
OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION
Established by the Globex Corporation as part of a concentrated effort to carve out its own piece of the entertainment market, Pandora is unusual in that it produces all its content itself and more than that, the vast majority of said content is animated and even partially written by AI systems.
This shifts the expense patterns of the entertainment service in unusual directions - no money is spent buying the rights to external productions and the employee-to-revenue ratio is tilted hard towards revenue. At the same time, the immense processing power required to generate content at this scale demands the construction of huge data centres, which in turn consume vast amounts of power and require armies of maintenance droids.
Some might consider dedicating computing power sufficient to administrate entire star systems to entertainment creation excessive, but such beings clearly lack vision, for when your target market is the galaxy as opposed to a mere planet or two, the economy of scale really kicks in.
Despite its galaxy-spanning availability, Pandora generally does not region-lock content - local legislation permitting, everything it produces should be available everywhere. Similarly, content is virtually never removed, ensuring that its catalogue grows ever larger with the passing of time.
- Intent: A streaming service that churns out content on a truly galactic scale.
- Image Credit: Namelix.com
- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
- Links: Sith+ Streaming Service
- Organization Name: Pandora
- Classification: Streaming Service
- Affiliation: The Globex Corporation
- Organization Symbol: See the image; 'PANDORA' with an olive wreathe behind it.
- Description: Pandora is a streaming service that exclusively hosts its own content. Most content on Pandora is animated; some of it is clear to casual observers, but equally many shows and movies are photorealistic in the extreme. Organics are employed as writers and the like, but virtually all of the animation and much of the writing is done by gargantuan banks of computers hosting AI, usually SICs. The sheer scope of Pandora's processing hubs is sufficient to make a BRT supercomputer look primitive - thousands of hours of content is generated every hour.
- Pandora produces 'a video game or two a day' as well as a smattering of other, more unusual forms of content. The primary focus is on shows and to a lesser degree movies - some are meant to be viewed on screens, some as holograms, and some in one's mind.
- Pandora produces books and even music as well. Some are linked to other content and some stand on their own legs.
- Headquarters: Arcadia
- Domain: Most of Pandora's employees are located on Arcadia, specifically in its 'Pit-Cities' and the Orbital Arcologies orbiting it. The service can be viewed in most developed systems - or anywhere with a powerful personal receiver. Due to its unique content creation methods, the service rarely does any filming and has surprisingly few employees for the content it outputs. Customer service is left to sociable AI.
- Notable Assets: Studios and enormous computer banks on Arcadia. Various communications relays and data centres elsewhere.
- Brave New Worlds is a popular 'Audience Guided Story'. When in season, a new episode is posted every week and the audience can vote on a more or less important choice (everything from character romances to whether to start a war) for three days (some particularly important choices have longer voting periods and by extension delayed episodes). A new episode is then produced and distributed in four days. Story-wise, the show follows the xenophilic crew of the Intrepid Voyager as they explore the alien universe they are stranded in.
- Wimmlerook is a character-focused drama set in a fantastical pre-industrial town of the same name. The setting has a fleshed-out system of magic and remarkably consistent descriptions of a variety of wondrous species and cultures. Despite being a fairly 'easy watch' for the most part, it explores more difficult topics such as speciesism, families split apart by politics, and the tactics used to spread authoritarianism.
- Madhouse is a 'reality TV show' that can be enjoyed guilt-free because the people at each other's throats are entirely fictional. Despite this, some fans get weirdly attached. Due to their fictional nature, criminal activities can occur 'on screen', including the odd death. The amount of actual gore shown is quite limited and always clearly marked by a warning, so as to cater to a broader audience. Several seasons often run concurrently and with different focuses - some have unusually strict or lax rules on what kind of content can be shown 'on screen'.
- Voidstar is a spacefaring action story animated in a distinctly stylised manner. Violence, swashbuckling, dogfighting, and awesome explosions are all commonplace, as is cybernetics. Most arcs follow one of three main characters - Captain Barrigan, a snarky pirate with awful luck and a distinctive cybernetic eye, Lira Velstrom, a special agent for 'the Galactic Federation', and Admiral Jerrom-Kinthest, a flamboyant imperialist.
- Natural Wonders is a series of documentaries exploring the galaxy's diverse ecosystems. It has real footage on occasion, unlike most Pandora content, but most of the visuals are still generated in an Arcadian processing hub. Many episodes are voiced by Lord Davis Arrenbough, a famed broadcaster, biologist, and natural historian - or rather, his synthesised voice, as licensed in perpetuity by the Globex Corporation.
- Realms of Myth is a truly unique MMORPG - the setting is split into 'Realms' or servers that each have distinct differences. Coruscant, Denon, and the like have numerous Realms each, whereas you would be lucky to find even one on 'Outer Rim backwaters'. It is possible for player characters to travel between Realms, though this is a complex process in-game. Most but not all Realms are pre-industrial and magic exists in a form vaguely inspired by the Force. Servers are generally only accessible on one planet or at most in one system, for obvious reasons.
- And many, many more. Everything from sedate children's cartoons to extremely adult content (including but not limited to blood sports so photorealistic as to be downright horrifying) can be found within Pandora's ever-expanding catalogue.
- Hierarchy: As is the norm for a Globex subdivision, Pandora smoothly 'cuts off' the lowest part of the hierarchy, replacing 'the grunts' with a combination of droids and AI. What is left is a fairly flat corporate structure dominated by writers and the odd executive. The writers normally focus on the big picture, leaving most details to AI - most animation is automated, though a few concept artists are employed.
- Membership: Pandora employs tens if not hundreds of thousands of people, which seems large until one considers that the service has a number of subscribers easily measured in the billions. As the 'grunt work' is left to massive processing hubs and networked AI, it is difficult to earn a job without an excellent CV - creativity is heavily emphasised in prospectiveness employees, as is familiarity with neural interfaces.
- Climate: Pandora managers cultivate a friendly, productive environment. Employees are well-compensated and given generous vacations, but are in turn expected to come up with bright ideas and thrilling stories, as opposed to stamping in and barely paying attention. That is not to say that there are no negative aspects - like Globex itself, Pandora's corporate culture has been described as 'vainly hedonistic'.
- Reputation: Positive; while some scoff at the idea of AI-generated content, it is difficult to dispute that Pandora's service is well-designed, consumer-oriented, and reasonably priced. No content is ever removed, the pricing is largely static, criticism is listened to, and the stream of content produced is vast enough to fill virtually any niche imaginable. Content can freely be downloaded without DRM for offline viewing.
- Curios: Standard corporate stuff, for the most part. Often hands out awards to the writers behind popular content.
- Rules: Show up to work (except in extenuating circumstances), be nice to your co-workers, and do your job. Extenuating circumstances can include but are not limited to sickness, family issues, and 'a date with that guy I mentioned earlier. You know, the blue-haired exec.' Anything that would distract you from thinking clearly, really. Overly distractible employees are liable to be moved to other parts of Globex.
- Goals: Generate a steady profit while cultivating a loyal user base. Long-term profitability is the focus.
- Mavris Klepnek, Head Writer. This middle-aged Zabrak-Human hybrid is one of Pandora's most famous writers. She is best known for having pioneered the 'Audience Guided Story' format with the earliest seasons of Brave New Worlds, but has since moved on to other projects with more room for narrative control; she is rumoured to be working on a juicy show set in the Old Republic era Sith Order.
- PESA, or Primary Entertainment System Administrator, is a Synthetic Intelligence Construct designed by AMCO to oversee production while guiding it towards the desires of the user base. More commonly referred to simply as the Algorithm, this superhumanly intelligent being is wholly dedicated to the furtherance of entertainment - it desires nothing but consistent profit margins and consumer satisfaction.
- Amova Serata, IT Operations Director. This Twi'lek Data Savant is generally considered to the one really calling the shots at Pandora - it is her department that deals in Data Security, her department that designs the consumer interface, and her department that keep the processing hubs running smoothly. While generally not involved in content creation itself (with some exceptions, notably the Realm-hopping function in Realms of Myth), she has been known to order niche content with failing ratings continued because she personally enjoys them.
- Kalec Kaspers, Customer Engagement Director. This overly enthusiastic Zeltron is responsible for following trends, keeping customers happy, and to some extent advertising. Unlike his more stationary predecessor, he travels all across the galaxy to meet customers, attend meetings and conventions, and make promises without talking with other executives; while the latter has led to more than one headache due to the sudden obligation to continue cancelled content or produce content for (insert niche minority), the goodwill he produces is worth it.
- Desric Terassi [PC], Well-Connected Fan. Does Desric have an official role in Pandora's hierarchy? Well, no. Is he still liable to use his role in the Globex Corporation's upper management to ensure the content he likes receives the funding he thinks it deserves? You betcha.
Established by the Globex Corporation as part of a concentrated effort to carve out its own piece of the entertainment market, Pandora is unusual in that it produces all its content itself and more than that, the vast majority of said content is animated and even partially written by AI systems.
This shifts the expense patterns of the entertainment service in unusual directions - no money is spent buying the rights to external productions and the employee-to-revenue ratio is tilted hard towards revenue. At the same time, the immense processing power required to generate content at this scale demands the construction of huge data centres, which in turn consume vast amounts of power and require armies of maintenance droids.
Some might consider dedicating computing power sufficient to administrate entire star systems to entertainment creation excessive, but such beings clearly lack vision, for when your target market is the galaxy as opposed to a mere planet or two, the economy of scale really kicks in.
Despite its galaxy-spanning availability, Pandora generally does not region-lock content - local legislation permitting, everything it produces should be available everywhere. Similarly, content is virtually never removed, ensuring that its catalogue grows ever larger with the passing of time.
