Apologies this isn't going to be the most eloquently written but I'll give my two cents on these
1. What are the differences between FH and FHU, if any? I've heard they have the old, un-updated maps?
I hope I'm not incorrect saying this, someone can correct me if I'm wrong: I'm not in the Patreon or anything so I don't know much about development, but FHU isn't at all released yet. Right now they do have the FHN(?) servers up which are mostly just to tide people over until FHU's release. FHN does have the old maps but with some of the new features.
2. Would you say the FHU community is more, less, or the same amount of active as FH?
I'd say oFH is a lot more active. The FHU forums are super dead atm (there's not much to discuss anyways haha) but the FH Neighborhood Discord is still fairly active, but slowed a bit as of late. Whenever something happens in either community I'd assume traction would pick up.
3. Would you say the FHU community is more, less, or the same amount of friendly (especially to new players) as FH?
Considering FHU hasn't been released yet I can't say much, there's not a huge amount of new active players joining FHU afaik. I am very excited for FHU but I will admit the community seems a bit more closed off? Idk I just did a lot of cringey stuff on this game since I joined in like early middle school/late elementary school lmao but I feel like if I had done anything close to those things on the FHU forums I would not have received as understanding as responses haha but in my opinion the games seem to have different age ranges as their primary playerbase. I'm not sure if any of that makes sense, just kinda the vibes I get as a lurker
4. Have you been witness to, or been involved in, any of the public accusations against FHU that anon sources online keep talking about? (I don't want to be specific here. There are a lot and if you answer 'yes' to this and want to elaborate, perhaps take it to PM, wouldn't want anyone in trouble)
I've heard about the claims and idk seems farfetched, a lot of claims seem to be totally made up or very stretched. But I don't know anything about it so I won't say much on it. I can understand some claims that have been made (like things that can literally be viewable in a discord server) but others are way too serious to just be posting on an anon tumblr blog imo
5. Can you tell me something good or positive about FHU and its community so I can have some nice things to say?
I am very excited for FHU to be released! I really hope there's actually progress being made, the updates have been pretty slow ever since the hype of a new FH game died down. The idea of there being progress and something new for FH was really exciting at first.
6. When did this darn game start? Their website doesn't tell me! I can only guess based on post dates. Oldest Patreon content seems like its from March 2020.
I joined pretty quickly during March, I don't know anything further than that unfortunately.
7. If you don't even play FHU, do you have an opinion on it based on how the community here has interacted with it?
I think both communities are way too divided. I'm trying my best to keep an open mind for both games, but seeing how many people on FHU have a grudge against oFH, and posts here on oFH that are so negative towards FHU and people who play it... I think it's really unfortunate. Both games should be open to criticism even if you like both communities. Unfortunately both oFH and FHU seem to suffer from cliqueyness but I guess that comes with the smaller playerbase, but it often bleeds into a weird sort of rivalry between two games that are barely interacting.
Very insightful questions! I'm sorry I can't offer much besides just what vibes I get from lurking the forums and Discord. All in all I like both games but there are certain patterns within the communities that are a bit upsetting to see.