@Koshimi: Game Maker is only as "limited" as you want it to be. It by itself can be found to be incapable of many tasks, but it is possible to execute external DLLs written in C++, Pascal, and BASIC (any variation of BASIC afaik). Yes, I advise C++ over GM if you plan on taking courses and dedicating a lot of time to learning it, but in the end what is more important: The quality of the game or how it was made?
Game Maker isn't meant to be the greatest tool: Its developer, Professor Mark Overmars, intended this program to be the first step for people who have the desire to create their own games, but over the years it has become far more powerful, to the point where some of the best GM-made games have sold hundreds of copies and made it onto various gaming magazines/ezines.
So, I DO recommend this program before diving into C++, especially if you have never programmed a game before. GM makes it extremely simple to learn the "ins and outs" of how the game works, and this knowledge can seriously help make learning how to develop games in other languages much easier.
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I've never tried RPG maker, then again, I'm not a huge fan of RPGs, so it really wouldn't be that much fun to me.
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