EDIT: And the poll is broken. Fantastic. The first option is supposed to be: "Yes. If it's good, it's good." The third option is "no interest in this old-school nonsense."
EDIT2: Let me clarify: I'm not talking about the program itself, but games made on it.
As a hobbyist myself, I've been wondering this for some time now. I know people who make a living developing and selling games built on RPG Maker, but I don't know anyone who actually buys these games (not outside Japan anyway, where there apparently is a huge market for this stuff). So I thought I'd ask here, since it's fairly safe to assume that at least most of you are gamers of some sort.
After Steam's Greenlight was greenlit there was a mass of hastily put together baby's first RPGs submitted by people hoping to make a quick buck. This pissed off not only the Greenlight users, but some of the more serious RPG Maker devs who could have done without the ill will induced. Many of them believe this has ruined their chances of ever getting through Greenlight. There are plenty of other portals that aren't quite as picky about the games they sell, but again, I don't personally know anyone who shops at, say, Big Fish Games.
Despite its name, RPG Maker works just as well for creating visual novels or adventure games, among other things. The programs contain tools to build a rudimentary game without any knowledge of programming (stock art assets included), and for those with the required skills the engine is flexible enough to do essentially anything, as long as you stay within the realm 2D.
Most finished RPG Maker games end up being shared for free among friends, filled with inside jokes nobody else would find funny anyway. Those with too much ambition end up getting burnt out and not finishing their games, which leads to very few games released that are actually worth sharing, or indeed, anyone's time. Then you have the fangames... The less said about those, the better.
For those who aren't familiar with the engine, I've got some examples for you:
Then there's games like Cthulhu Saves the World. CStW uses its own engine and art assets, but it could have just as well been made on RPG Maker. Let's face it, it doesn't look like much, and the mechanics are nothing to write home about. I wonder if anyone who enjoyed it would think less of it if it had used RPG Maker instead?
Don't get me wrong. 90% of RPG Maker games aren't worth anyone's money, but I don't see that as a problem with the engine, but its users. So my question is this: do you care? Do you give a rat's ass what the game was made on? Does using a "toy" like RPG Maker devalue the game or your experience?