Nah, its not noobish. :P
The first difference:
RPG Maker: The only limit its your PC xD
Rom Hacking: The GBA Console its the limit (Limit with colors, empty space, processed data, etc)
In RPG Maker, make things can be a little more complicated, in some ways, but, for example, mapping, its a lot more easy.
Let's go to the point:
RPG Maker: Create
Rom Hacking: Edit (98%) Create (3%) * Create in Rom Hacking its a lot more dificult, cause you have to learn "ASM" the language of the GBA processor :/
Cheers!