I've had multiple successful orders on Nuc and I think it's as good as an other option right now. It has the basic functions any market should like escrow and user reviews, but more importantly it's lasted longer than most of its competitors, has a functional search and actually decent uptime. We're at the point where really the only trust vendors put on the market is to hold the coins in escrow. Vendors who require FE or direct deals are just as well off on Nuc as any other market.
I think Nucleus has had a bad reputation since its creation for offering free vendor sign up (Although if I remember correctly BMR also had a very inclusive vending policy).
To clarify: I agree with most of this sub that we need something new, Centralized escrow is just too much of a risk for vendors. What I don't understand is why Nucleus still has the shitty reputation it had when it was created and what it will take to gain the acceptance of /r/DarkNetMarkets. In my opinion Nucleus has proved itself as much as any other current market (Except Agora) by making it through operation Onymous (to be fair they probably weren't even a target) and by lasting longer then many markets before falling to the temptation to exit scam. Vendors who still use escrow (Thank you!) quickly dismiss Nucleus but I don't see why they haven't reached the status of legitimate market yet
TBH IDGF where you guys vend, I'll go to any market to get a vendor I want, but I'm tired of seeing of people blowing off Nucleus likes its not even a legitimate market
PS if some of these post about Nucleus "scamming" are confirmed, then scratch everything I just said
Nucleus is scamming. They're randomly taking btc out of people's wallets.