If I make an RPG with RPG maker MV, can I sell it on Steam?

There's no reason you can't sell such a game on steam through greenlight.

You'll need to spend a lot of time on high production values.

This means high quality artwork, sounds music, a good plot etc, plus a good trailer, marketing campaign, adverts etc.

Without these any game released on steam is dead in the water no matter what engine or toolkit it's made in.

You'll also need to promote heavily on twitter, Facebook etc and you need to be prepared to put money in to advertising to get sales back out the other end.

Good luck!

Oh... I have to do all that? I can't just slap something together with the elements that come with the program and plop it on steam and cross my fingers? I wanted to make an RPG in a modern setting about a drug dealer who gets caught up with the wrong crowd and ends up fighting for his life. Power ups would include illicit drugs and alcohol. I would make little drawings of the items in MS paint. Again, I only want like $3 per copy.

If a game like shower with your dad simulator 2015 can be popular on steam I see no reason why I can't succeed. I don't want to put money into advertising because, essentially, I have no money.

Oh... I have to do all that? I can't just slap something together with the elements that come with the program and plop it on steam and cross my fingers?

No one's stopping you, but you better be really good at crossing your fingers.

If you do all the things I recommend above you have a good chance of breaking even and at least making more than you spent on adverts and promotion. This is classed as a successful game and you could call yourself a successful game developer.

If on the other hand you throw a game nobody has ever heard of onto steam and cross your fingers you'll have better luck buying a lottery ticket than making anything as it won't ever even get enough votes to get greenlit...

essentially, I have no money.

Just thought I'd point out too, that putting a game onto greenlight costs $99 or so, and this itself is still no guarantee of it being released as you must then get a threshold number of upvotes to get greenlit...

Oh... I have to do all that? I can't just slap something together with the elements that come with the program and plop it on steam and cross my fingers

How many games of that quality level are YOU paying $3 for or even care about in the slightest?

There are like 18 bajillion games out there, all screaming for attention and mindshare. Games that actually get notice from even the most bored of Redditors need to stand out from the herd. Part of that is putting in an exceptional amount of effort to the game itself. The other part is just shouting really loudly (aka advertising).

Ok so it's not worth selling on Steam then...

No you can sell it, it's just a question of whether it will be successful or not. If you use the built in graphics, sound, and music it's less likely that you'll have sales... you need to differentiate yourself from the pack. Things like custom battle systems are of course a plus but making post on rpgmaker related forums, rpg forums, having a trailer or two will go a long way in getting the word out. It comes down to "why should I play your game?"

edit - oh and yeah there are quite a few rpg maker games on steam, To the Moon for example. So unless the license has changed for this newest one I think you're alright legally.

RPG Maker games that use RTPs are generally not received well, since they all look very much alike.

There are a few RPG Maker games that distinguished themselves and did a bit better, such as the Cherry Tree High games and Stray Cat Crossing.

Oh... I have to do all that? I can't just slap something together with the elements that come with the program and plop it on steam and cross my fingers? I wanted to make an RPG in a modern setting about a drug dealer who gets caught up with the wrong crowd and ends up fighting for his life. Power ups would include illicit drugs and alcohol. I would make little drawings of the items in MS paint. Again, I only want like $3 per copy.

If a game like shower with your dad simulator 2015 can be popular on steam I see no reason why I can't succeed. I don't want to put money into advertising because, essentially, I have no money.

A word of warning: if you submit it to Steam Greenlight and the game looks slapped together, TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling are very likely to rip the game to shreds in front of their many subscribers.

Some examples on the games which were ripped to shreds:

Temper Tantrum

Day One: Garry's Incident

On the flip side, RPGMaker is genuinely fun to use. There's something inherently satisfying about creating, about seeing your ideas translated into a game. You get to write dialogue, script cut-scenes, design maps, come up with unique skills: I think it's worth doing for the sake of doing.

Finishing the game, getting money and distribution: those are bonuses. Either way you can have fun, see if game development is something you want to pursue further, and refine your skills as a writer and designer.

TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling are very likely to rip the game to shreds in front of their many subscribers.

These reviews kind of grate on me at times.

They pick on indie games produced by single developers, and although those games might have bugs someone poured their heart and soul into them and decided to sell them for $2.50.

After these reviews 9000 people descend onto their steam page and half of them admit to buying the game just to leave a negative review like sheeple.

It really discourages people from releasing at all IMHO even for free...

Personally I restrain myself from ever picking on an indie developers finished and released game. Releasing and getting to the finish line is hard enough without people being trollish. I will offer constructive criticism but I would draw the line at these "reviews".

So selling RPGmaker games with RTP graphics is royalty-free now?

Haven't been around the scene since rpg maker 2003, so I wouldn't know, but I remember there being some technicalities that needed to be handled before pushing to market, I suppose this has changed significantly?

TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling are very likely to rip the game to shreds in front of their many subscribers.

These reviews kind of grate on me at times.

They pick on indie games produced by single developers, and although those games might have bugs someone poured their heart and soul into them and decided to sell them for $2.50.

After these reviews 9000 people descend onto their steam page and half of them admit to buying the game just to leave a negative review like sheeple.

It really discourages people from releasing at all IMHO even for free...

Personally I restrain myself from ever picking on an indie developers finished and released game. Releasing and getting to the finish line is hard enough without people being trollish. I will offer constructive criticism but I would draw the line at these "reviews".

Because I didn't want the wrath of those two reviewers when releasing my game, I watched their videos to take notes on what should I not do.

You can't really paint all of the indie developers in a good light. A lot of them removed comments criticising the game, particularly Digital Homicide, and even tried to remove the video reviews themselves. Enter the Streisand effect.

On the other hand, what plays as a fun game for myself may be confusing for someone else. But I actually aim to get criticism from players before I even bother to put it on Greenlight, and act on it instead of censoring.