I feel like I am wasting my time

[ouyin2000]

You arent really making zero progress. Perhaps you unlock a new ship. You learn about different events and which options to choose for each one. Yes, you do go back to the beginning when you die. But when you start again, you start with extra knowledge and skill as a result from that loss.

How the fuck do you figure that is progression? I have to start back at square fucking one every time.

I'm asking for my money back, this game is shit.

[petelectro]

You arent really making zero progress. Perhaps you unlock a new ship. You learn about different events and which options to choose for each one. Yes, you do go back to the beginning when you die. But when you start again, you start with extra knowledge and skill as a result from that loss.

How the fuck do you figure that is progression? I have to start back at square fucking one every time.

I'm asking for my money back, this game is shit.

On the steam page of FTL you'll find this:
No Second Chances! - Permadeath means when you die, there's no coming back. The constant threat of defeat adds importance and tension to every action.

The game is designed around this idea. It let's you fail. Often. Just like XCOM, Dark Souls, Spelunky or a lot of other games that came out in the last couple of years. If you beat the game for the first time, you'll be more satisfied because of that. I'm not saying that all games should be that way and I'm definitely not saying you have to like the game but it is being advertised as being unforgiving and killing you for real if you mess up. So don't complain because you didn't read the description / failed to inform yourself before buying it.

If you actually like the game and want to succeed it in. Watch good runs, reconsider your tactics and learn how to get the most out of each sector bevor jumping to the next one. I've clocked around a hundred hours into the game and still have a few achievements to go for / the last alternative ship layout to unlock. That's incredible value for a few bucks.

[5thHorseman]

How the fuck do you figure that is progression? I have to start back at square fucking one every time.

The game takes less than *2* hours to beat, from the start of playing, with most every ship out there.

Two. Hours.

Sure you start back at square one (Except for the lessons the game taught you about itself, assuming you bothered to learn them), but square one is the first of only a few squares.

You really don't sound like the intended audience for this game. It's for people who want to exert effort - not merely time - to overcome adversity.

[stickthemantis]

The first thing I like to upgrade is almost Always shields, and then engines. (unless the ship focuses on killing crew, then I might get sensors)
Shields are good early because then most enemies cant kill you, and its also good versus ions,beams and late game lasers.
But remember that engines are better than some people think, I used to think that high-lvl engines was a waste too, but if you do some math, high-lvl engines are even better.
Its easiest to think if you compare 98% with 99%.
Its only 1% difference, but you half the chance of getting hit. You can say it like every % adds up to the previous one, wich is why engines and pilot is super-helpful in the late game.

[Gecimen]

Unless you guys are trolling, let me try to explain. FTL is a roguelike game. Which is simply Random encounters + permadeath. But FTL is the king of the genre. There's a lot to learn, but the most important is "how to adapt to and bend probability". If you play this game enough, you'll learn a thing or two about life. That's well worth the money.

[Ora_unit_SR388]

I ended up playing over 100 times before getting to the flagship. To win, you must make progress, and progress isn't always going forward, for sometimes it is going back and looked at what you have done.