Yes, RPG Maker 2000/3 are outdated, RPG Maker XP offers way more possibilities (and yes, some people are working on a script that enables online mode, but I didn't follow the project since several months so I don't know how complete it is now).
I recommend this excellent forum. Ton of tutorials/scripts and people are friendly, they won't hesitate to help you if you ask nicely and don't spam too much. :>
