Llamas everywhere!

(Year 227, Oasis Springs) So, we are eagerly awaiting the Cottage Living pack and with llamas introduced, TS4 will take a giant step forward, for sure! It's funny how a game with the llama as a legendary cultural element from the very start took more than two decades to add the animal itself to the mix. We have all been waiting for this moment- the wait is not over until July 22nd, but at least we find ourselves counting days.

As long as I can remember, there were always numerous of small hints of the llama being an important element of the simmish culture. Llamas on t-shirts, naming the Sim City football team, and many of the popup text events featured a llama reference, also, even if we never ever saw a single llama or knew exactly how or when they were such a big deal to simkind. At the moment I'm accessing neither my game(s) nor the internet, so I won't dive into all those reference details.

Nowadays that llamas are on everyone's mind, recently I payed a lot more attention to the in game references. In my last session at the Landgraab house the llamas suddenly were everywhere!

This is Malcolm Landgraab meditating at his modern estate at Verde in Oasis Springs. If you look closely there is a yellow llama logo right there on his jacket. Malcolm is now an elderly man, married to daughter of Baron of Gloom, and they have 3 sons + Malcolm's old dog. He is still the richest man around, and that is not just because he owns one of those 5 money trees (behind him). I have a working stock market and lots of incorporated businesses, and Malcolm owns lots of stocks, of course.

Here is the youngest son, Ruperty Landgraab. He is to young yet to have a defined personality, and with two older twin brothers, Buffrey and Geophold, he is more likely to inherit some of those stocks or the Sulani vacation home rather than the family's main estate. Anyhow, his pyjamas is decorated by a huge llama illustration. It's nothing shocking, but with so many designs to choose from, and the fact that I normally hardly pay attention when choosing a toddler's sleepwear, it was a tad funny. I guess I often just go with what the game already picked randomly, while I might adjust their everyday wear, only.

 Later this day Malcolm's art interested wife, Aili, started painting by free will. It was just a small piece so I did not interrupt her. And it turned out she painted a llama! How cute, but topping all the other llamas this day, I found it kind of disturbing. Are our sims longing for the release just as much as we do? Did Aili (von Kaching) Landgraab, Lady of Gloom and married to Lord Cacti, actually long for llamas to become reality?

I always saw Oasis Springs as too hot for llamas, after all they are wrapped up in wool. But someone stated that it's not completely impossible to keep llamas in this desert world. And I think llamas will fit the sand theme better than a cow would, anyway. Perhaps the Landgraab household shall have a little llama farm? Their lot is spacious enough, I just never imagined Malcolm being a Farmer... Perhaps the boys can help with the animals, but somehow I think their assistance will be more of playing than feeding and shearing. Besides, to increase wool quality, it might be the sim harvesting that need to build a god relation to the animal? This might become to time consuming to Malcolm and Aili, thet should rather buy some land for the llama farm where a family or workers can rent to do the work - and pay rent with wool or money.

Malcolm is always searching new ways to make money. He could easily found a new company, Landgraab Llama Wool, Inc. ;)