Long Ago In a Far Off..., Back in my day it was just called RPGM2k Options

[NinjaOverdrive]

Hello and all that jazz! I’m really here out of nostalgia for you see about 9-10 years ago I was an active part of a couple RPG Maker 2000 communities, Manic Zone I believe was one of the happening sites at that time.

I left the scene around the time RPG Maker 2003 was coming out and pretty much fell out of the loop of things after that. I remember hearing about XP coming out but not VX.

Anyways, I just wanted to ask a few questions if you folks don’t mind.

Is there any place I might could find some of the classic RPG Maker 2000 games that were released around 2000-2002?

Which of the makers is most popular nowadays? Is RPGM2k still being used much? If so, why are people still using if it there’s been several upgrades? And a follow up to that thought, what are the major differences between RPGM2k and 2003 and XP?

I guess what could help me out is if someone could fill me in on what I missed out in the last several years.

[Kread-EX]

Is there any place I might could find some of the classic RPG Maker 2000 games that were released around 2000-2002?

This is the best list I know of: http://www.queenscourt.org/othergames.php - only references 2k and 2k3 games.

Which of the makers is most popular nowadays? Is RPGM2k still being used much? If so, why are people still using if it there’s been several upgrades? And a follow up to that thought, what are the major differences between RPGM2k and 2003 and XP?

The most popular maker is RPG Maker VX. The average user base is quite young, while 2k/2k3 are still used, but more by experienced (read: older) developers. This is not an absolute rule per se, just a tendency.
As for the differences between makers, there are way more between 2k3 and XP than between XP and VX. Simply put, XP native resolution is 640x480, it supports 32 bits color with alpha blending, and there is a scripting API based on the programming language Ruby. For a more in-depth explanation, the wikipedia page is rather accurate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RPG_Maker_XP.
VX is very similar to XP, except for the mapping system. I'd say it has the easiest user interface in all RPG Maker engines, so this may explain why it's so popular with newbies.

So why people still use RM2k/2k3? I guess this depends. I switched to XP a while ago but I still enjoy the retro feel of the old makers, so I'd say it might be one of the various reasons. There is also a "cast" of 2k elitists that despise everything else but they're a minority.

[NinjaOverdrive]

Huh. Seems I might fall into that "older" group but not elitist

That list actually had several of the games I remember fondly like Destiny Call Complete and Diary of a Madman....kind of takes me back. Thanks for the great response.

[Klokinator]

Also because RM2k/2k3 doesn't have a sripting language, but (apparently) far more powerful eventing abilities, it's very popular with people who don't know RGSS and are excellent eventers. The FF7 remake is a good example of how powerful that "old" maker still is

[heisenman]

RM2k/2k3 doesn't have a sripting language, but (apparently) far more powerful eventing abilities

Having recently downloaded 2k3 for the first time I was very and pleasantly surprised to find that many of its event commands have more options than later engines.

I don't really know about 2k, but 2k3 is still popular, in some communities more than others. I suppose it's because of a mix of nostalgia, of stilistical compatibility with resources from commercial games, and laziness/fondness.