Press "S" while you character is in your territory - also works if you are in the territory of someone you have a non-aggression pact or alliance treaty with.

Perhaps I can slide a option in for players like us   More RPG-y

Agree, but that's because units are a bit too slow in this game. I suggest to speed them up just a little and not have all items available everywhere.

Items availability should be random with larger cities having more chances to get the best stuff (as it usually is in RPGs). That would also resolve the problems you guys obviously have at balancing weapons and their prices. A scimitar costs  about 450 (!!) gildars like the big hammer but offers a much lower attack. Well who is ever going to buy it? Fix that, but you'll get some other problem somewhere else unless you follow my suggestion

On the other hand it is perfectly realistic that certain weapons cost more and deal less damage, in real life that happens: that's why there is a problem balancing their cost\power.

That would also bring some variety to this game where in the end all heroes wait until they can just buy the best stuff, thus in the end all looking and acting the same: As it is now better wait a couple of turns and pay for the best stuff than having to come back (too slow).

Besides having a little faster units would help multiplayer, eliminating boring, transitory turns where nothing happens.

that's probably a cheat code, item shops should only be available in cities no matter what the size.

Maybe a compromise between the two.

By default, shopping will be allowed in the cities only.

After discovering a simple civilization tech, or buying an appropriate building, shopping will be allowed in the area of influence of the cities.

An advanced diplomacy tech will be required to shop in ally territories.

In this way, the easier options will be possible, but you'll have to work for them.

--

If it's just between the basic two options, despite being an RPG fan, I understand why returning to the cities to shop can drag the game.

When it comes to realism vs. gameplay, balance and fun, with all due respect, realism should lose.

I had a dream the other day that I incorporated a refugee camp into my biggest city and a plague broke out.  Fun?  Maybe.  Realistic?  Likely.  

{Sad that I dreamt of Elemental?  Yeppers.  )

You made the right choice, the "less fun" = "ridiculous" implementation where merchants can just pop out from behind every bush, tree, and stone is just plain stupid. Sorry, that's just ridiculous and takes away from the game. If they were going to go that route, they shoul'd've at least created a "merchant spell" or something that makes a merchant available at some mana cost (say 10). That would be more reasonable than the "abrah cadabra kalamazoo magic merchant now appears, at no cost to you" from anywhere & everywhere. Who cares if it friendly territory or not, makes no difference. I don't expect "realism" from a fantasy game, but let's at least be in the ballpark of logic for gosh' sake, especially for something as basic as this.

You shouldn't get something for nothing (in any game). In fact, I believe I even saw the dev say this very thing in some other post. Having a merchant item store "magically" appear right before you decide to fight the uber Yithril stack and stock up on healing potions, longbows, potions-of-speed, etc and at no cost, is just flat-out ridiculous. That's the only word that comes to mind. It goes beyond me, why the developers of this game would even *consider* this reasonable is unbelievable. But, it sorta makes sense now: the broken aspects of this game (weak AI, game crashes, other problems) when some guys in the decision process actually think magically appearing merchants who can offer anything & everything any time you needed it was a good idea. If I was a dev, the thought of implementing something like that would never even have occured to me, I would've nerfed that idea before the words were even out of the suggester's mouth.

It should be merchant (item store) is only availabe in towns/cities that the player has built a merchant building or captured from the opponent. Anything else should be NA unless they create a "merchant" spell that has mana cost (price, i.e. you're not getting something for nothing now), which would make a merchant available only for that one turn in that one square it was cast. This is highly reasonable & doesn't give players "something for nothing".