I use FICS as I'm not prepared to subscribe to another site. RHP is more than enough but I do like the occasional quick game. BabasChess is a great interface.
As for those people who cheat, I'm there to improve my game so as long as I can practice a few openings I'm content. As for those sporting players who develop convenient severe lag or 'disconnect' problems at 'inopportune' moments, life is too short to lose sleep over them. They'll always be somebody to try it on. My aim all along is to improve my over the board play where severe lag or disconnections won't be a problem (and hopefully neither will computer assistance).
I belong to icc and playchess and use both at various times. the ed collins transcript is at least seven years old. a lot has happened since then. fics has gone downhill when it comes to actual numbers of players handled. it takes lots longer to find an equal opponent. fics doesn't cover nearly as many live events. it has simuls, etc. but the major thing, besides numbers, is that playchess and icc are better organized. there are things i don't like about both, but they're the best i've seen so far. i see nothing wrong with someone playing on fics or other free servers if they want to save a buck. in all honesty, if i were hard up, i wouldn't pay icc or playchess,but then i wouldn't be able to get fritz, which gives away a free year of playchess. let's face it, in the chess server world icc and playchess are the kings. if you don't want to pay, just log on as a guest and play to your heart's content.