how long did it take you guys (directed at Forum and Yusuke) to learn how to code and how did you learn to grow? Did you constantly read the Blue Book over and over, studied resources, or what?

Here's my advice:

1. If you don't know how to do something, instead of letting that stop you from doing something, let it motivate you to figure out how. A lot of people make "multiplayer only" games because they don't know how to make AI. If you make sacrifices like that, you'll never learn. Try your best to figure out how to do something, ask questions, and read tutorials. Get something working even if it's bad or poorly coded.

2. Every time you make something, look at it and think: how could I have made that better? Improving something could mean adding a new feature, or cleaning up the code. Big projects aren't the result of the programmer writing perfect code on the first try, they're the product of a lot of little improvements.

If you're starting out, don't worry about making a complete game. Instead of trying to make a complete RPG, just make the combat system. Start out simple and add feature or fix up the code as you realize better ways of doing things. A lot of the learning process is learning by trying, failing, and realizing how you could have done better. It's easier to realize what mistakes were made or what improvements could be made when you keep the project small.