An updated House Builder (UOForums.com) has been released. House Builder is an offline house utility (approved by EA), that utilizes the graphics from Ultima Online to allow you to build multi-story structures, so you can test out your various dream homes, before actually going in the game and building them. Keep in mind this is a completly offline tool - it has nothing to do with anything you do in-game, however it can save you valuable time (especially if you are on dial-up) as it can allow you to try out every house tile available to you (and then some), including the new 9th Anniversary Collection tiles. It allows you to build any size, up to 18×18, as well as making available all floors plus the roof.

Thread with screenshots, installation information, etc.

The main thing, this now works properly with the 9th Anniversary Collection tiles (which you can view in house form here and here).

For an update on this story, see Treasures of Tokuno II and an Imperial Decree

Yesterday it was mentioned that the Treasures of Tokuno started back up with the publish that just went through. One difference over the past ToT was that the dyes were no longer available as major artifacts.

It turns out there are dyes dropped as minor artifacts, however they are more natural in appearance and they are only good for one use. The color matches the bottle, and players have reported that they match the metals we have available to us (minus iron of course).

Keep in mind this: Back on the April 7, 2006 Five on Friday Questions, MrTact answered this question:

3. Are you ever going to add Tokuno dyes back into the game?

MrTact: Not per se; we intend for those colors to stay rare. I would love to add metal dyes in a variety of additional (common) colors as an alchemy craftable, though. It’s just a question of finding the time to get it into a publish!

If you have noticed an incorrect account age on your paperdoll, the Shard issue page at UO.com has the following information:

We’re aware of the issue with incorrect account age’s being displayed on your paperdoll. You do not need to contact us if you are experiencing this problem, as a fix is in the works.

We appreciate your patience while we solve this issue.

The Austin Game Conference started up today, and lasts through friday:

Austin Game Conference (AGC) - now in its 4th year - is the definitive conference for online and networked game development, including massively multiplayer online games, casual games, online PC and console games.

Quite a few people (including some big names) associated with Ultima Online in the past will be there and will be speaking. Among those in attendance (and what they are going to be speaking about/discussing):

- Raph “Designer Dragon” Koster, the former Lead Designer on UO and UO: The Second Age (although according to his website, he appears to be sick and may not be there the whole time).
“The Age of the Dinosaurs”:This lecture will examine business trends in the game development industry, the pressures that are changing the current publisher-developer model and the brave new world that faces us all after the fruition of current trends.
“The Future of Virtual Worlds”: The virtual worlds are changing drastically, atomizing through user-created content, providing end-users with business opportunities and meshing with an increasingly interoperable World Wide Web.

- Richard “Dupre” Vogel: Producer/Director of UO: The Second Age.
“Beta Community Roundtable”: The Beta period of an online game is the most crucial time in development. It is the first time the public will play the game. Opinions are being formed and viral marketing can be the biggest asset if there’s good buzz or a disaster if feedback is negative.
“”New” Challenges Facing MMOG Development”: An MMOG related discussion about the “new” challenges facing development, such as pursuing a broader audience, bridging platforms and incorporating mechanics from other genres.
“MMOG Rant”: Though our medium is becoming more significant yearly, we still have a long way to go to fully realize it’s potential. The panelists are going to unleash their inner anguish on an issue they believe is holding back our industry. (Also Jessica Mulligan and Mark Jacobs).

- Jonathan “Calandryll” Hanna - Former Online Community Relations, Content Designer
“Building Communities from Alpha to Launch”: Roles and best practices of community relations during development and testing of an MMOG. Once an MMOG has reached a developmental stage where any kind of external testing is to begin (alpha, friends and family, closed beta, etc.), new sets of challenges arise outside of the developmental process.

Mark Jacobs - EA Mythic General Manager: “MMOG Rant” Though our medium is becoming more significant yearly, we still have a long way to go to fully realize it’s potential. The panelists are going to unleash their inner anguish on an issue they believe is holding back our industry. Our goal will be to challenge ourselves and the audience to look beyond the current industry results. (Also Jessica Mulligan who is associated with UO somehow, Richard Vogel are speaking during this one).

- David Swofford - Media Relations for Ultima Online
“Emerging Public Relations Strategies for MMO Games” - Public relations strategies are changing in the game industry as more MMOG titles come to market. To break out from the noise, public relations professionals need to develop and implement innovative new strategies and programs that go beyond the traditional preview/review gaming cycle.

Also: Eugene Evans - EA Mythic VP of Marketing - Speaking about “Where is Asia Going?”

Note: Carly “LadyMOI” Staehlin will not be attending.