What makes an RPGMaker game great?

[Meiscool-2]

Meh, good story does make a good game, but originality I still think outweighs the storyline. Now, if the story is super cliche or sucks monkey balls, then I can see what many of you are saying, but I still think that a good system outweights a good story. And, I'm not just saying that because my game is an ABS.

Btw, thx for the complement on my screen Master Yoda. And yeah, FF8 had a really great story but crappy gameplay because monsters lvled up as you did, making lvling up sorta worthless, FF9 had the best gameplay but a really cliche story, not bad just predictible, and FF7 was sorta in the middle.

[Kilyle]

If you're going to take the time to make a custom battle system, a custom menu system, a gameplay style distinct enough to make your game go down in history, why not take the time to also make a story good enough to bear the system out?  If you're talented at coding but not at making stories*, go ahead and collaborate with someone who can write the story and figure out the little subplots and sidequests that suit the overall plot.

(*I firmly believe that everyone is capable of telling stories, so it must be lack of practice or some cultural viewpoint that makes people "unable" to tell a good story.)

On my supergargantulossal, gigantilactic post up there...well, I've posted bigger.    But I was more eager to post than to refine and polish my presentation (which is what I often do with any post, which is why some of my posts take several hours to write, an amount of time and effort that seems unconnected to the amount of text--so you're right about my college thinking ^_^).  But I do hope that I raised some good points, at least.

[Master Yoda]

that was a very big reply