NEBULOUS: Fleet Command is a phenomenal game for what it manages to accomplish, but is severely plagued by a late-stage elitist community and some very negative expressions of early access syndrome.

For one thing, the onboarding process for newer players is abysmal. Joining the game's official Discord server is an implicit requirement for learning how the game works due to the relatively outdated and low-quality tutorials available in-game. And even then, newer players are frequently belittled for falling for many of the "noob traps" in nebulous. Most multiplayer games are completely dominated by the game's veteran mafia, who enjoy nothing more than bullying players of all stripes with minimaxxed exploit-based fleet builds and blaming them for not using "the right counter" for it. In general, nebulous has no room at all for learning how things work, and the little you can get is loaded with esoteric jargon and pedantic behaviors from egotistical players of all kinds. Of course no one will have everything mastered immediately, but the game's community has come to expect it from players in the worst way possible.

As for the game itself, it's a phenomenal product for what it manages to accomplish. The combat mechanics and fleet design systems are all very in-depth and intuitive, which would be a saving grace for the game if there were a better onboarding system in place for newer players. The game's developer is very much active in the game's development, but is failing miserably to properly regulate the game's community and focus on anything other than the most critical short-term concerns.

In general, I love nebulous for what it accomplishes, but if you ask me, its learning curve is insurmountable for anyone just starting out with the game. Unless the developer were to make some significant changes to their community management and development policy frameworks, this game is doomed to fade into esoteric obscurity before it leaves early access.

Final rating: 55/100. It saddens me to have to rate this game so poorly, but its flaws are impossible to ignore anymore.