Okay, this is not a "this game is too hard" whine. It is a critical analysis of the game, its merits, and its weaknesses. I've played through literally scores of times. I've unlocked two additional cruisers, and played them to see if the gameplay was easier/more manageable than the Kestrel. I've gotten to the boss almost every time - and lost every one of those times.

So here goes:
STRENGTHS:
FTL has infinite replayability and allows you to specialize your crew in very real, meaningful ways; a well-trained weapon specialist will hit more often than an untrained one, for example.
It has a plethora of unique races and their skills compliment certain roles on the ship; Rock for ship defense and putting out fires, Mantis for ship boarding, Zoltan for that extra 'oomph' in systems without spending the scrap to upgrade the powerplant.
The weapons are well-balanced and interesting; hull lasers to punish the enemy, ion weapons to shut them down, missiles as the slow-but-powerful back up weapon, etc.

WEAKNESSES:
Skill ramp-ups don't seem to make a lot of difference in some cases; a 'gold' rank Mantis teleported over to an enemy ship can still get his butt kicked by seemingly-untrained Rocks or other Mantises, A highly-trained pilot with maxxed out engines still can't dodge more than 1/3 of the offensive shots, etc.
Special events can NEVER be planned for; three times I've carries the frozen, crystalline stasis pod to sector 8 and still not unlocked the Crystalline cruiser. Twice I've heard the message of Zoltan peaceniks and tried to convince the Rebel at the quest point to give peace a chance, only to be embroiled in a fight. I totally understand that "special events' are special for a reason, but the odds of getting the right combo at the right time, in the right place seem rather astronomic. Speaking of which, on the 2nd run-through, I got the 'astronomically low' achievement.
Final boss + 'repair' stations: the plot has you running from the Rebels while trying to deliver a message/information. In sector 8, you are given some fuel and told "Go get 'im, boy!" WTF??? Shouldn't the Federation give me a store at that point? or more scrap? or maybe something more than some gas? Repair stations are randomly scattered throughout that sector and screw with strategy; the enemy is approaching on a relatively direct course, yet often repair stations (when they haven't been taken over by the enemy) are scattered throughout the sector, making running to get repaired a HUGE gamble. Perhaps if the advancement of the enemy flagship were slowed a bit to give you breathing room, then it'd be worthwhile to jump to a repair station. Most of the time, though, it is not. The flagship has to be encountered 3 times to destroy it once and for all? If you fail on the first try, I can see the Flagship destroying the Federation. But shouldn't there be a % of success increase for the Federation depending upon how damaged the Flagship is? like maybe a 33% chance of survival each time you defeat the Flagship? But no, it is all or nothing. And you're in the ship which has been running from the enemy the whole time.
"Tips": most of them are okay, or even vaguely helpful. The one that got my goat was "losing is part of the fun" and I sort of agree; except in this game losing is not so much 'part of the fun' but a steady feature of the game. Something you will return to time and time again; ship a burning wreck because of solar flares + suicidal pirates, smashed to bits by asteroid field + mysterious boarders, hopelessly outnumbered because you took the wrong "path" through this sector, crushed like a tin can because the Flagship launches a slew of drones in the 2nd wave and you can't RELIABLY target the drone controls.

FINAL VERDICT:
A fun premise with random encounters that can make for harrowing, thrilling, and engaging play with a variety of ships, races, and weapons to fit any style of play. All of which is overshadowed by the CONSTANT losing. Literally constant. Played on Easy 40+ times and not one kill of the Flagship makes all your careful planning, cunning use of teleporters, cloaking, missiles, drones, weapons, and hoarding of scrap to upgrade your ship completely pointless. FTL has a lot of potential and a lot to recommend it but, like the 'Return of the Lizards' mod in Age of Wonders:Shadow Magic, it is ultimately an exercise in frustration for a player that would like the occasional victory now and again. Not an easy victory, mind you, but an occasional one. FTL fails to balance the challenge to the rewards, making it a fun, but ultimately frustrating game.

GRADE C-

There is actually quite a bit of strategy involved in doing well in this game, but a lot of it is not obvious, and the game's way of "teaching" you is to smack you down hard until you learn. It reminds me a lot of the board game Arkham Horror that way - at first it seems like the game is just beating up on you, but once you start to get familiar with what kinds of "bad luck" are likely to hit you, you can plan for them and manage their effects.

I'm actually to the point now where I'm finding "easy" mode to be a cakewalk, with nothing short of catastrophically bad luck stopping me from getting to the flagship and taking it down like a punk. I'm not bragging, I'm just pointing out that improvement is possible, which wouldn't be the case if the game really were just a luck-fest.

I posted some tips in this thread, but maybe I should make a new thread for "FTL strategy" to help out people who are still trying to find the "game" in this game.

Hmm 40 times on easy and not one win? I started on normal and won the third game. Only the first 2-3 sectors are now difficult depending on the ship you start with, but after that you should have either enough weapons to take out theirs, or enough defenses to avoid any damage. I must have played about 40 games now,too, on normal, and probably won around 2/3 of em, and only lost once to the endboss,the first time. He is too easy, just take out the missile launcher with weapons or boarding and the rest is dodged/shielded.
Experienced weapons,engines and helm officers make an immense difference, don't let them die.
Luckily the unlockable ship designs provide more challenge, I am cracking my teeth on the B design of the Stealth Cruiser now, without shields things go wrong quickly, but at least the A Layout had good weapons.
But with the A Designs of Kestrel,Osprey and Engi Ship, careful planning and not making grave mistakes, the game is 100% winnable.Also I am really puzzled how you can make it through all sectors, but lose to the endboss.

I also am puzzled; I have the strategies down and fly through the prior 7 sectors (as noted in original post) but the Flagship seems to ignore a lot of that. I don't see how it can really be "easy" or a "cakewalk" as I am neither new to these kind of games nor typically a slow learner. If you can beat it easily, good on you all. For my experience, the end rarely is reactive to the success of the prior sectors. Just sayin'.

Strange, you must be doing something wrong,today I played through three times with the Kestrel to unlock the B layout, and the boss only harmed my ship 1 or 2 points total in all three phases when one of the missiles got through.
Mostly I had 4 shields, 45% evasion and a defense drone mark I. Took out the missile launcher first, either with teleporter crew or with weapons and then he cant do any harm. With a cloak or some luck on the first missile attack one could get through all three fights without any damage.

*shrugs* Wound up uninstalling the game; lots of potential, but doesn't seem to work out for me. Even followed the strategy given above - four playthroughs and random events sack the living hell out of the crew; solar flare starts fire in the door control room while 4 human boarders are busy smacking the hell out of the crew (only 1 b/c a 'distress signal the jump prior killed my engineeer) - Restart: Got a hull beam on derelict, friendly guy offers defense drone next jump. by sector 3 (nebula) three successive "mysterious boardings" wipe all but my pilot out. Restart again; doing fairly well, have teleporter and 2 mantis boarders in an asteroid field; took the ship, ready to telep assault crew back and WHAM, asteroid does the last 1 pt of damage; boarders lost. Restart again again: Begin in a nebula and meet a Zoltan mystic - follow him to the planet only to have one of my crew reverse-age into nothingness.

Can't see what I was "doing wrong" in any of those. Ah, well. Time for a different game.

Don't give up, you were doing everything wrong there! In nebula boardings just open ALL doors except the medbays, send your crew there. The boarders will either suffocate or fight in your medbay where you win easily. Or get the 20 scrap door upgrade and let them suffocate while they pound on doors.
Don't send your crew to enemy ships that are nearly done, fires, asteroids or flares can suddenly destroy them, I learned that the hard way ,too.
If you don't have spare crew, say no to random events that can kill them, like spiders.

The fact that there are so many little things to do wrong, learn and do better next time makes this game complicated, but not hard. Once you do those things right, the game is pretty easy with the first ships.

I do not get why people call this game so frustrating and rage inducing.

So far I played quite a bit and unlocked some ships, I usually manage quite well and always reach the last 3 sectors without any major problems. Although at times my hull and supplies are really low.

The thing is that you do not have to rush to the next sector and collect all kinds of stuff but evade unnecessary risks if you cannot afford it. Upgrades should only be purchased when they are any useful. Besides the combat can be quite hectic at times, but there is a pause button which I use very often. I can think and manage all my stuff.

Until now I died like 2 times because I met an absurdly powerful ship.

You must visit as many beacons as possible in every sector until the rebel fleet forces you to flee the sector to maximize your scrap.

Jumping to a beacon in a nebula slows the rebel fleet's advance, so be sure to visit as many nebula beacons as possible.

Most of those choose your own adventure situations have a "blue" can't lose solution if you happen to have the right component installed on your ship, or a crew member of the correct species.

I'm not sure about nebulas anymore, 2/3rd of the beacons there seem to be just staring into the empty nebula or getting your ship boarded without loot.

After all you are being told that Nebulas are dangerous. I thought the same before as you but I also get some good encounters in nebulas and even stores.

I meant the slower rebel fleet advancing is wasted because there are so many empty beacons in there.

Totally agree. So, there are chaps out there, who defeated the boss in their first run with one member of crew and without a single shot. Great, I'm happy for you and your grandchildren who, no doubt, will love to hear the stories one day. But I'm not that good. Or smart. Or lucky. And every time I see the bloody flagship's hull reduced to zero and yet, by deus ex machina being able to jump away with one wing stripped and full hull points I do feel cheated.

Sure, that's how the game is, take it or leave it. But I've already paid my money so maybe VetMichael or myself are not that completely out of place with a little bit of criticism. I mean, if I go to a restaurant, have a fantastic meal but the desert is shite and I point that out in a review somewhere, everybody will take it as a valid piece of consumer advice, so why should games be different?

Of course, it's totally down to the creators to decide what their game is going to be like. But as a player, in my personal opinion, this particular one would not loose any of its appeal and addictiveness if there was a bit fairer chance of actually finishing it. As far as I'm concerned, I'm getting dangerously close to the point where I decide that I've already got my money's worth in fun and simply stop trying. Am I the only one? And if not, is that the kind of reception the devs would be happy with?

What, there's no "deus ex machina" there apart a traditional, scrpted, multi-stages final boss encounter, like in many games.

Also there is an option too get a fairer chance to finish it, it's called "easy". It keeps the game challenging enough for beginners, although experience tends to make this mode a somewhat routine win after a while (hence why many player prefer the more punishing "normal" mode). I've played most of my games on "easy", though, and found this mode quite well balanced in terms of fun/frustration.

I must have played some completely different games. It came as a really off-putting surprise to me.

Ha ha, funny.

I do play on easy. Otherwise, believe me, I wouldn't like to waste anyone's time.