I’ll argue against this, though.
The purpose of a castle is to provide a bastion from which the noble that owns the place can manage the lands around him and perform his duty as protector of the people he lords over. A castle exists because it is integral to the feudal system: the serfs owe fealty to the lord, the lord owes fealty to the king, and thus the lord has to ensure that the peasants do well and pay their taxes and aren’t dying off en-masse or else he’s not performing his duty to the king. THAT is why a castle exists.
The armory is open 24/7… for the people that work at the castle. We, however, are just mercenaries. We’re scum to the noble and the people that work for him. They can sell excess gear to us at high prices, and they will, but only when it’s convenient for them. They certainly don’t want us tromping about the castle at night snatching weapons.
If we’re talking about forts instead of castles, the same argument applies. We’re still scum, and the fort is probably run by people who don’t care for our type. They don’t mind selling us things, but only in daylight when all the guards are awake and we can be watched intently. Again, a bunch of hooligans wandering the wilds looking for mercenary work aren’t the sort of people royal officials want around at night.
A world that has undead and orcs has little to do with our world and history. With that said im watching that dev video which shows that castles spawn military faction groups that protect the caravans. So the interest of the castle in game is to protect civilians. Since we as player are enemies to all enemies of human civilians (undead, bandits, orcs and wild animals) therefor castles should be friendly to us (regardless of the fact that human lords might not like mercenary bands going around). Enemy of my enemy is my friend.
But lets put historicity aside, and lets use common sense and gameplay. Does the fact that shops are closed bring anything to the game? Does it provide you with some meaningful choice or additional gameplay? The way i see it, it doesnt. It is simply and merely an inconvenience. I come with a full inventory that i need to sell before i can go back and kill more stuff (the fun part of the game), and i cant because i need to wait. Waiting is a waste time that costs me money. So whats the point gameplay wise, other than to frustrate me? Just because something makes sense in real life (shop owners go to sleep) doesnt mean its good for actual game.
