Well I wouldnt know of any cheats m8, I know some cheats exist, but never heard of sumthing like u mentioned...
As for playing, well open server tend to be more of a chatroom. Specially TSF games and those bloody hotels...
Most of the more active players does 2v2's or 3v3's, and from time 2 time there's also open games that are quite played.
So I gues my answer to you my friend would be, yes JJ2 is more than just a chatroom.