As a newbie to the RPG Maker Community...

... how valuable in games is Original music?

I'm a music student in college, and can definately write my own scores + transpose them to midi
and was wondering if this is ever anything anyone is looking for?
players + game makers alike?

If you're asking for money then I'd say noone will pay you for original music in an RPG Maker game unless it's commercial.

not interested in money at all
i make enough as it is.

I just noticed how using the RTP was unfavoured, and i was wondering if this applied to music as well

XP has decent music, but naturally, original music is the best.

It certainly helps. If you are not sure if you want to spend the time to make the whole soundtrack, then just making a few important custom songs e.g. the title theme would be a good idea.

If you're asking for money then I'd say noone will pay you for original music in an RPG Maker game unless it's commercial.

That's been proven wrong, heheh.

To me, it's one of the most valuable aspects.  A game without good music, I can hardly play.

I beg to differ, I think story is the most important, but music ranks along side graphics, good music can really draw the player in well.

Personally, I prefer .mp3 files, .midi isn't good enough quality, and as a result, I've never enjoyed music from a game which only uses .midi.

But yeah, we all love good music, any gamer maker enjoys custom tracks for their project

Good music makers for the maker are appreciated by everyone.  If you can make good music for  game, the game will be enjoyed more by it's players indefinitely, whether it's an important aspect in the players opinion or not.
It's like graphics: some people need it to be good, others don't.  Regardless, everyone likes it when they are good