RPGfan : Never Judge a Creation By Its Tools

Neal Chandran writes "Whenever I mention a really great RPG to people, they show interest. When I mention that it was created using the RPG Maker software, their reactions become crestfallen. Why is that? Is it that RPG Maker is not perceived as a "real" tool the way something like the Unreal Engine is? Is it that somehow an "indie" DIY project is perceived as less credible than something churned out of a corporate factory? Whatever the reason, a game should not be written off solely because of the tools it was created with.

I do not think it is fair to dismiss a game simply because it was made using RPG Maker. To me, that's like saying that a guitarist who uses a $400 guitar bought off-the-shelf at the local music store is somehow inferior to the guitarist who uses a $4000 custom instrument from a luthier. All it says is that the latter guitarist was wealthy enough to buy an expensive guitar. It says nothing about skill. For all we know, if we were to close our eyes and listen to both guitarists play, the one playing the $400 off-the-shelf guitar could very well be the superior guitarist."