I haven't seen any ion storms inside nebula, they're always separate, will we ever see that? -Eventually, yes. -Vesuvius
For new players, I think it would also be nice to have warnings when you get close to an environment eg. nebula, radiation, ion storm as to what it does. -That is definitely planned to be implemented. -Vesuvius
Radiation: To me the radiation zones seem to be areas to avoid at all costs. I don't think I'd try getting any radiation protection skills to even try entering those green spots. Unless there's a map where you'd have to cross it for strategic purposes. Nebula: I can see tactical benefits against bigger ships by hiding there, I think its a good one for some strategies but I don't see them around enough in most maps. Ion Storm: I rarely seen them on a map, they're kind of ugly graphically speaking but maybe they're good for genari ships that don't have any shielding.
I've found the radiation useful to keep the AI from attacking me directly in some areas where the radiation acts like a barrier, and longer range weapons put a hurt on enemies on the other side.
Does the radiation protection skills reduce radiation effects? ie. lvl 1 protection reduces radiation field lvl 2 to lvl 1 effect. Is there a visual indicator to tell the radiation level?