Well, I did the survey. Since I code my own engines in C++, I have no experience with RPG Maker, whatsoever, but when it comes to game development tools in general, and this goes for both high level stuff such as RPG Maker, as well as low level stuff such as C, C++, Pascal and so on, that it can be fruitful to make a few test setups first not for publication. No trouble if they are crappy or ugly or whatever, but just to get the hang of how things work. Dennis Richie, the inventor of the C programming language said  "The only way to learn a new programming language is by making programs in it," and in my humble opinion he is fully right, and his words do no only apply to actual programming languages such as C, C++, Pascal, BASIC, etc. but also to tools such as RPG Maker, basically any tool you can use to create games in. When looking for good tutorials for absolute beginners keywords such as "getting started",  or "beginner" or "newbie"  can sometimes help in your search requests. I cannot imagine there would be no absolute beginner tutorials on the RPG Maker website.

Now being experienced in doing big RPG projects (which you can all download for free, my avatar is a character from one of my games), I can say that you should not underestimate the task of creating an RPG game. Especially when you plan to add minigames, which do require extra programming work, things can easily give you a lot of work, and having tools such as RPG Maker do not always remove all that work. All it takes away is the low level coding (which was in my own RPG projects the least amount of work to be honest).  And balancing might be your biggest horror. Having a party of 4 members of which one is almost invincible and the other would even  be slammed to death by a common fly, is an extreme example of off-balanced heroes. Especially in my older projects (which are not available for download anymore) I noticed I clearly underestimated that department myself. Of course, properly balancing the enemies to the player parties can also be a challenge. Especially when you want your game to be hard. I've faced a few times, as my RPG games all have difficulty settings that some hard mode challenges where not hard anymore, but rather mathematically impossible. 

Now a very common beginner's mistake is making dungeons too much of a maze. A few mazes can be challenging, but one maze after another will get annoying. And be sure to add a bit of cosmetic detail, like a torch, or a skeleton in chains. It's stuff like that, which can prevent your game from looking boring. But don't overdo it. Too much detail can also kill a game concept.

Now when it comes to battles. Are you going for instant random encounters? Or having enemies running around in the dungeon starting a fight when they get too close? Or completely realtime? In all three scenarios you should take care that combat does not take place in a location where they can be absolutely annoying. That's most of all the locations were a puzzle has t be taken on. If you have a puzzle in which the hero has to push blocks to certain locations, it can be a good idea not to have any enemies in that room. In most cases it can also be preferable to have the bosses have their very own room in a dungeon where you meet no other enemies except for the boss (I mean in different fight situations. A boss grouped with other enemies in one fight, can especially in turn-based combat work out nicely).

And what can also be very annoying to having to go back and forth too much. A key in the ultimate west, then having to go very far east to open the door, only to find another key there with its down all the way west again, can work out boring. As well as forcing the player to do the same dungeon multiple times. Sometimes the story line requires you to go down that road, but try to prevent it. Of course, shortcuts that can only open up when you have completed the dungeon once so you can skip a major part if multiple runs are required, can be a good idea.

And lastly, especially when you are long on the way, RPG projects can at a certain point kill your motivation to work on. It's a high crapload of work to do everything alright. Work as fast as you can, but remember to take a break and be honest to yourself when you really notice the project is killing you. Working on an RPG without motivation is THE way to get a terrible product. Be sure to retire the project temporarily on time and set a kind of term in which you'll resume the project. Of course when you wanna do this for money, I understand deadlines can make this a bad idea, but on the other hand, I am not sure if I want to pay for a rushed game. 

I hope my pointers were useful. 

As a fellow guy-making-an-RPG, I wish you the best :D I don’t use RPGMaker either so I can’t help with specific advice on that tho.

Jeroen is right that RPGs are a really big undertaking, and that you can’t maintain motivation on such a project forever. But don’t let that discourage you either, take breaks when you start to feel burnt-out and jump back in with a fresh perspective.

It can also help to talk about what you’re working on with friends or other devs, from my experience there’s nothing more motivating that seeing what someone I know has been up to and wanting to share new stuff with them.

Filled out the survey, hope it helps. As an RPG player, I look forward to hearing about your future projects with great interest. Never give up, and let your vision preserver! 

Submitted a survey response.

One good way to get used to your engine and reinvigorate you to work on your projects, in my experience, is to participate in a game jam. Trying to make a different game or create a different genre - yes, even in an engine literally called "RPG Maker" - can help you come up with new ideas to explore and use as solutions to problems you have in the future, or even in the present. And since there is a time limit, it helps you focus on the game. And, if you finish, you get to see the fruits of your labor.

Godspeed, nicochism.