The most prestigious Building award of all in 4D is the Builder of the Year Award, which mostly is given to the Builder who has produced the best work during that Year. It is also a one time award, nobody gets it twice, however deserving, at least not so far.

The Award was instigated in the year 1998, meaning that Tanaea /Cali, one of our most legendary Builders, never got it, (and neither did Sekhmet /Emory, although I haven’t given up hope of her yet, since she is still active). And as much as I hate tooting my own horn, I really think that Molly should have got it one year too. But since I’m the Head Builder, I am also the one that chooses the winners, which hasn’t always been easy, as you can see below.

Sometimes it has been a close shave, and in a few cases a Builder has got the award ‘postumously’, after they left the Mud, just because someone else beat them to it in the year when they should have got it, based on their actual work.

4D has also scored high in an external Builders contest, run by UCMM in 1998.

UCMM AWARDS
UCMM Head Builder of the Year 1998: Molly
UCMM Advanced Builder of the year 1998: Snowbird
UCMM Intermediate Builder of the Year 1998: Moonstar

4D BOTY AWARDS
4D Builder of the Year 1998: Palpatine
4D Builder of the Year 1999: Darkwolf
4D Builder of the Year 2000: Shartrance
4D Builder of the Year 2001: Mordecai
4D Builder of the Year 2002: Crystal
4D Builder of the Year 2003: Sonya
4D Builder of the Year 2004: Durgan
4D Builder of the Year 2005: Solana
4D Builder of the Year 2006: Katriel
4D Builder of the Year 2007: Amber and Mireille

MOTIVATIONS

4D Builder of the Year 1998 - Palpatine
The first of newly instituted Builder of the Year Award goes to Palpatine.
‘They never come back’, is a common expression, not just about pro-boxers but also about Builders who fade out from the Mud. But Palpatine did come back, after having been away for over two years. He picked up his large, but half finished zone, Starwars, and completed it in a few weeks. The zone is almost 300 rooms big, so it’s not a small task. After completing Starwars, Palpatine started on another Future zone, but again left before it was finished. ‘They never come back’, at least not twice – but with Palpatine, who knows?

4D Builder of the Year 1999 - Darkwolf
Darkwolf had two strong competitors this year, Slaanesh and Moonstar, who both created one excellent zone. However, Darkwolf excels, since he created two, both of equally high quality although very different. The 1930 gangster-ruled city, Little Italy, shows an extraordinary feeling for the atmosphere of the time period, and everything fits into the overall picture. His second zone, The Queltorian Sector, originally named Outer Space, is a science fiction adventure, with strange planets and aliens,

4D Builder of the Year 2000: - Shartrance
There were two strong competitors for the BOTY Award in 2000, Cali, and Shartrance. Both deserved it, but the jury fell for the humour and evil wit in Shartrance's Mother Goose. This large zone features an adult version of the old Children's Tale about Snow White and the seven Dwarfs. Each of the Dwarves has his own story. Many of them has an unexpected twist of other Children's stories, like Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, the Beauty and the Beast, etc. and most of them are definitely more for adults than kids.

4D Builder of the Year 2001 - Mordecai
Choosing the Builder of the Year is no easy task, with the outstanding Builders we have in 4 Dimensions. The award of Year 2001 goes to Mordecai, not just for his zone Midlands, although this is a challenging and funny zone that still captures its audience. Other equally outstanding zones have been produced this year, the names that first come to mind are Rip in Time and Temple of Hatshetsup, built by Crystal and Emory.
However, Mordecai gets the award mainly for his scripts, which have meant a revolution for the zones and Quests in 4 Dimensions. We've have been making scripts and interactive mobiles for several years, but Mordecai has developed those scripts and brought them to new heights. With the help of his scripts many zones have come to new life, not just his own. He has very generously and enthusiastically helped other Builders, several of his scripts are in my own zones, and most zones produced during the last year feature scripts produced by Mordecai. And soon to come are some totally awesome scripts, especially the Fishing and Mining scripts, which is more like code than scripting.

4D Builder of the Year 2002: Crystal
Crystal got the Builder of the year in competition with Katriel. It was a close shave, since both had produced excellent zones, but since Crystal has been a strong runner-up for the last two years, it was her time this year. She gets the reward for her two large zones Odessin and Rip in Time, both of which belong to the most frequented in 4D. Crystal has lots of creativity and descriptions come easy from her free flowing imagination. Sometimes typos come a bit easily too, but who cares, when the descs have so much charm and flavour. Both the zones have several Quests and some real challenges. Crystal also does a lot of good work in both in the Buildport and the Gameport, and she is the one who came up with the idea of personalized equipment, which has become very popular among the players.

4D Builder of the Year 2003: Sonya
Sonya has quickly risen to the top after finishing her first zone, the Amusement Park Quixotica. Strong runners up this year are Katriel and Durgan, but Sonya wins the BOTY Award for 2003, based not only on her first zone Quixotica, but on updating several of the older zones, with new quests and vastly raised quality as a consequence. She has also taken over several of Crystal's tasks in the Gameport, and is one of the most active fixers of typos and bad scripts. Her self-chosen title is Mud Engineer, which tells a lot about the selfless work she puts down in 4D. In between doctoring the older zones, she is working on her own new zones, among others a set of 'Uber zones' for the strongest players. Sonya tends to direct her efforts where they are most needed.

4D Builder of the Year 2004: Durgan
The Builder of the Year Award for 2004 goes to Durgan. Solana was another strong candidate, but since she is pretty new, Durgan won the reward.
Although RL issues has forced to him leave us, at least temporarily, he built us 3 very good zones during his short stay here. He is a real professional, well schooled in our sister Mud PhoenixMud, where he's been a top Builder for many years before he came to 4D.
Durgan is a fast, efficient and thorough Builder, who always produces high quality work. He is also a good roleplayer, and an entertaining imm. He is deeply missed by the Staff, and by many of the players. While we are hoping and waiting for his safe return, we can at least enjoy his 3 zones; The Citadel of Thandar, The Town of Ta-Beneth and The Orbiter.

4D Builder of the Year 2005: Solana
The 2005 Builder of the Year Award goes to Solana for her Sutter zones, which have revived the Old West Dimension. The three zones, (500 rooms all in all), are richly detailed and contain several quests and trading opportunities, including the new feature Goldpanning. A fourth zone, the California Trails, is far advanced and will hopefully be in the game soon. Solana also is a great help in daily tasks, like fixing typos and making personal equipment, and her sunny disposition makes her a joy to be around. She uis an ardent roleplayer and makes great efforts in forwarding the RP standards of 4D.

4D Builder of the Year 2006: Katriel
The 2006 Builder of the year Award goes to Katriel. This is something of a posthumous award, since Katriel is no longer really active in 4D, although she still visits from time to time, when her duties as a mother permit. But the Builder of the Year list would not be complete, without Katriel, who created three of our most beloved Medieval zones; Enchanted Lands, The Village of the Tulipek and Mount Kuromeru, and the equally popular Cosmo Canyon in the Future Dimension. Katriel's zones have a lot of flavour and depth, and are built up around elaborate background stories, which lead to challenging quests for the players.
Although a bit belated, this reward is truly well earned.

4D Builders of the Year 2007: Mireille and Amber
This year there will be two BOTY winners, the prestigious award will be shared by Mireille and Amber. Why? Because frankly I cannot decide between them.
They've both produced one large and outstanding zone; Mireille built The Land of Punt, Amber Victorian England.
The Land of Punt is an exotic challenge, with tough natives and animals, and equally tough Quests. Victorian London is a historic masterpiece, with lots of atmosphere, grit, humour and tricky mysteries to solve.
Both these zones are of amazing quality, especially for a first zone. Then, regrettably, after producing these astonishing zones they both went inactive. If either of them had kept on building, it would have tipped the scale, and the choice would have been easier.
As it is they will share the award - and God knows they both deserve it!