Well..... I am sort of on the fringes of things, but as an outsider here is what I see:
Chessy seems to have a pretty nice RP community. Nice meaning friendly (for the most part), diverse and active. Unfortunately, the only things that seem to fit my schedule are the occasional town meeting and house of commons stuff. Which, is not very exciting. When I RP, I want to interact with people and do things with people. At some of the meetings, I think to myself, "In this amazing world of UO, why in the hell does everyone want to RP a bureaucrat?!!!?" But, I think that is more of a function of when I can play versus a general atmosphere. Regardless, everyone I have met this time around have been great.
Heck, even the folks that hang out at Luna Bank play along ok. One day I wandered in with a guy and was RPing a crazy vagrant who was looking for his turtle and several of the regulars humored him and played along. Not like the chorus of "go away newb" that I half expected to hear.
I like the EM's and their events. Much better than the good ol' post-seer days when you might have some crappy/laggy holiday event every year or so. Very active and interesting. Again, the start times for most of these events conflicts with my schedule (I'm central time zone and can't play seriously until around 9 central - 10 eastern). Not sure where you are located, but that may be a consideration.
The hunting seems good and not crowded. Maybe I just hunt the unpopular spots, but I never seem to have a problem. The shard has enough people so I don't feel lonely, yet it is not so crowded that you have to play at strange hours just to get anything done without waiting in line.
Housing in Fel is plentiful: lots of large tower spots if location isn't a concern. If it is, you can place something smaller nearly anywhere. I haven't checked tram, but I am sure it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you have the Stygian Abyss upgrade there are spots available in Ter Mur.
Overall I give Chessy a thumbs up. The only other shards I have played are Atlantic (too crowded), Lake Austin (too empty -started there when the shard opened) and Siege (meh).
A little about me: I'm pretty casual, I've got a wife, 2 kids, and job so my playtime is limited. I can usually make it on at 9pm central for a few hours. I also can hop on at work to take care of minor business. I am incapable of PvP. I suck at it. I PvM with my Sammy. It has spoiled me with the ease at which he slices and dices. I have some experience with role play, but am more of a solo player. Mostly I enjoy exploring and interacting with the RP community on my terms. Back in the olden days I used to place and sell houses. Now there is no real market.
Let me throw this out- If you wanted to start a fresh character, I could probably imbue you up a starter suit and get you spell books and whatever you need. If you wanted to try the place out before transferring characters all over.
