To be honest I'm not a beginner. I'm not an expert but I call my self "novice". But to start with my question. I have a game idea (its great and will deserve at least an indie award when its done). But I'm wondering which language to start it with. I know AS3, Java, and C+ as well as some BASIC languages. Now I know my choice comes down to what I'm trying to achieve so here's an example outline (since I'm not done with the story line)

Say I wanted to make a top-down 2D RPG with RTS elements. I chose top-down 2D since it seems the simplest for getting my idea across and I don't really want to spend the next year doing 3D modelling to get anything 3D looking remotely decent (I suck at modelling). Imagine Fallout 1/2 minus the dialog and story, so just the character development, inventory, and even the post-apocalyptic theme. And mix that in with like, Sid Mier's Civilization, in the ideas of civilization growth and resource take in and all. I REALLY REALLY want to go multi-player with this, as in its pretty much a requirement. And I understand the length of coding that's gonna take alone.

So it comes down to this. What language do you think is best for this? I like the aesthetic quality's of Flash and the fact that it can go browser based which would be AWESOME. But I don't really know about its networking capabilities, it seems to be really tight-cheeked about external information of all kinds. Plus I don't think it could really handle all the logic from AI that's required in the RTS elements. I like Java too cause its multi-platform and can go browser based too. Plus I here there a bit better on the networking scheme. But I also heard that it might not be able to handle the logic either since its mostly VM'd coding. Now I know C can handle it, but I can never get any libraries to EVER work together so I'm pretty much abandoning this language as a choice.

Any ideas on a starting point? Language, engine suggestions, resources to look into?

Java would work perfectly fine, not sure what you mean by it not being able to handle the logic. I'm personally a big fan of C#, as it has the productivity of Java, yet it is more powerful than it. As far as I know you can't do in browser games with it though.

I would suggest using C++ and direct X. Which libraries have you used with c++ that you say dont work well? Depending how you instal the DX SDK and visual studio you have to set the paths for libs and includes manually for c++ access the DX libs. Im using directX for a game im putting together.

Well I tried running a few different 3D engines on C++ with VS2010. Such as Ogre3d, Irrlicht, etc. And I can get them running as themselves but when I try and add any other libraries (physics, audio, etc.) that's when stuff stops working together. So far I really like the idea on Java as well. And by not running the logic I mean like muti-threading support or its performance on the many iterations I'm going to need to do for the AI.

Finally any suggestions on frameworks/engines for Java for some nice tile based or maybe isometric drawing?

haha if youre gonna use C++ I'd recommend doing what i am doing:

Use OpenGL and write your own game engine. It's not THAT hard, especially with all that example code floating around the net...

Finally any suggestions on frameworks/engines for Java for some nice tile based or maybe isometric drawing?

I hear that Slick is popular, but I personally can't give an opinion as I never used it.