Many games I try out as pirated and then buy them after I know I enjoy them. Sometimes I don’t enjoy them and then I’m glad I didn’t spend $60.

I don’t pirate software anymore. If I do the math on how much enjoyment I get even from a mediocre AAA game title, it is dwarfed by what I’d spend on a night out, so the value is there for me. On top of that the risk of malware (or the effort in mitigating it) isn’t really worth it.

Tv and movies? Pirate it. The streaming services are garbage and the content has too much crap for me to want to pay a corporation for it. If it became too hard to pirate I just wouldn’t watch it anymore.

Books kind of fall in the middle. Happy to pay for ebooks if the author makes it practical, but I’m not keen on buying through Amazon.

Indie games and open source projects are worth paying for imo

Yes, I pirate for many reasons. Money used to be the main one when I didn’t have any. Today, fortunately, I’m doing very well, but I still do it because it’s much more convenient than adapting to each of the streaming platforms, or because I access uncensored material (music and shows). For example, I’m a big fan of South Park, and the only way to access several episodes is by pirating them. My family pays for the family plan of all the major streaming services, so if I wanted to access them legally, I could, but God, I’ll never do it. I really find it all pathetic.

Regarding software, I try to avoid using anything that requires payment. I donate anonymously to many open-source projects: Cryptomator, GrapheneOS, Electrum, Veracrypt, Librewolf, WG Tunnel, and VLC. I pay for the premium versions of Bitwarden and ProtonMail. And that’s it, that’s all.

I only paid for Terraria, because I liked the community and devs are actually cared for the game also great ost too

When I started listening to the band Korpiklaani back in 2008 I could only find their newest album for sale. I ended up pirating everything else. I have since purchased all of their albums directly from them.

I remember playing Wildlands and loving it so much I actually bought the game full price. Sometimes you gotta vote with your wallet.

Sure. I buy tickets to their concerts, have bought CDs, movies, buy their game in the next Steam sale or on Humblebundle, rarely Patreon or support indie things on Ko-fi or whatever. I buy a novel if I enjoyed the first chapter(s) and want it on paper. Or go to the library. I just can’t afford all the music and Spotify isn’t paying the artists properly either. And I don’t want a DVD collection, so for TV series they don’t get money from me. Except for what the one streaming service I pay for forwards to them.

Yes, I go to concerts.

I pay my TV license but I still end up pirating BBC shows either through Stremio or Jellyfin.

I pay for Usenet - not my fault if they don’t pass it on.

Joking aside, like some others have said, I support many artists via Bandcamp.

All of my favorite doujinshi I’ve jerked off to I ended up buying physical editions of the artists newer works or their older stuff via melonbooks or toranoana.

I pirate games to demo them. If I like them, I buy them legit. If I don’t like them, I don’t even play more than an hour and delete them.

It’s the only medium I’ve done this… If I am pirating a movie or a TV show, it’s either old and not able to be purchased or only available on Paramount+ which is absolute garbage and doesn’t work 90% of the time I have tried to use it.

I wish I could donate to more novelists directly via their websites. I tend to pirate ebooks because I don’t want a) the fuss of removing the DRM and b) to bankroll the destruction of the economy for 99% of people by giving money to big companies.

I will buy an artist’s music on bandcamp if available if it’s something that’s going to enrich my life for years to come.