HAH! it can barely render 3d

I don't see how people can say flash is closer to C++ than Game Maker.

Game Maker Language (gml) was based on C++ and javascript.
I have seen people taking ages to learn C++ as their first language,
I have seen people taking a bit of less time to learn C++ after Flash.
I have seen people learn C++ in an EXTREMELY short time, after learning GML.

Flash is expensive as well, where Game Maker is cheap, or free.
Game Maker is also better for pixel games, which some people love.

Game Maker can do anything as well. It supports DLL's allow much more possibilities, and can have all sorts of extensions.

I say they both have their ups and downs. A lot of people will see better flash games than GM games, but that is probably because most people hear about flash before GM, so more people start with flash. Therefore, there are more people using it, and people learning it for longer. Also, the GM people normally eventually more to C++ for even more advance games.

I've seen people take to C++ like fish to water. They learned about 3 hours a week for 3 months. Granted this was only for Console programs, but it took the same amount of time for me to learn OOP.

I learned C++ as my first language in 3 months, and it wasn't hard at all. You just need a little dedication. And after that I learned AS quick as hell.

Took me 2 months for the basics, 1 month for OO, 1 month .NET, 1 month Win32 + MFC, 2 months algorithms and the basic C libraries (such as stdio.h), but what I really don't get (what I'm learning now) is exceptions.

Exceptions are like errors, except you can catch them and tell the program to try something else. Or it could just fail there.

I always wanted to make a game, but, why does coding have to be so complicated? It's always x y scale and numbers I don't give a crap about!

you should give a crap about it since they're the main integers for your game

The world is made of numbers. Deal with it.