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.

You bet, they often have a donation page, Patreon, or contact info.

I try to buy all ebooks, unless they only sell on Amazon.

Plenty. Music and books in particular. I’m usually behind on making legit buys, but I treat piracy partially like a library where I can try before I buy.

That isn’t saying I buy everything I pirate, I don’t. But if I like it enough to keep the files, I’ll wait until I find a good sale and eventually get a legit copy in some format.

I also do it in reverse, where I’ll buy something, but pirate a digital copy when it’s more convenient. That’s typically for paper books and music on vinyl. Sometimes I’ll even pirate a copy of a CD if I’m not up to dealing with the ripping (disability means I don’t always have stamina for everything, so stuff like ripping a cd is low priority).

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.

Yes, absolutely. I used to pirate almost everything because I was too poor to afford most things. Nowadays I can afford more (albeit still poor so some piracy is still out of necessity for monetary reasons). Sometimes I pirate as a try before I buy. Watching/reading reviews just doesn’t always cut it and the only way to know if something is useful/enjoyable if trying it out first. And some things I intentionally pirate even if I can afford because I have an ethical and moral objection to giving money to the company/creator (like Amazon, Disney, Adobe, etc.). And in those instances I also try to pay it forward as much as possible by direct supporting creators, donating to FOSS, charities, FSF, Internet Archive, etc.

Do this all the time with video games. Pirate to try before I buy. If I really like the game I buy it in the hopes it creates an incentive to make more games like the ones I like.

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

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

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.

Indie games are worth the experience if you pay for them. Triple AAA games? I don’t do that shit anymore. Anything from modern slop i don’t pirate at all. But what i’ll pirate is older content, TV Shows, and Movies from the two past decades.

Well I’m not sure if it counts as pirated, but I played for aseprite after I used it for a while.

Yes. I find them on Bandcamp.

Hades didn’t really seem like my kind of game, so I torrented it to try it out. Then I bought it, and later Hades 2, too.

I’ve also bought some comics I’d previously read on the computer, too, if they were good enough and I’ve come across a nice edition.