At least for media, piracy websites have a more extensive catalogue (of course) but they also have better privacy which is crazy. And they also allow you to use ad blockers. Sites you pay for would still show ads sometimes and don’t even allow VPNs.
At that point there is no point on paying for streaming and if you wanted to support the creators you could do it separetely with merch, other proyects they have or direct donations if any of those are aviable.
idk about everyone else but that was the year 2001 when my family got cable internet. I’ve never paid for anything streaming, I’m against subscriptions more strongly than most people admittedly, so I actively avoid them and it changes my hardware buying habits too if there’s paywalled things like online play for example. Consoles are dead to me now. 360, PS4, then the Switch. Now they get none of my money, I bought used and piracy modded them.
idk about better service. I was never convinced by that idea. I was still going to video and game rental stores until they shut down to my dismay, I don’t really get why everyone decided streaming was better, the quality and selection sure fucking wasn’t good and now it’s all fractured cross a bazillion competitor streaming services with exclusive content. Still would go to a rental shop today. I kinda do, my local library. But they have less selection/carrying capacity than my favourite gigantic Video Headquarters shop did. RIP. I despise shitty streaming bitrates even when I’m pirating I opt for an optical disc rip over a rip from a streaming site whenever possible. With Stremio and a debrid service I can stream 4K HDR bluray rips for $5 a month. Pfffff.
Music I buy vinyl and Bandcamp is convenient. I buy more than I pirate. Was the reverse when I was younger.
Games I often buy from GOG first if they have what I’m looking for, then Steam but I buy from 3rd party key shops…the legit ones like Green Man Gaming and such. Fir awhilI barely pirated new. Then CAD dropped and prices eben in USD webt way up with bullshit addons and season passes. Now I pirate more again especially if it’s not multiplayer. I don’t pirate anything indie (not just games) tho, personal rule.
Respect for not pirating indie stuff
It’s still a pretty big exception since I play a lot of games every year and increasingly less AAA (actually, looking at my legit libraries and Faugus Launcher/pirate folder, it’s been roughly 85% indie the past few years. Jesus. That’s both perfectly fine with me and sad about the state of gaming corps), but my overall consumption rate hasn’t slowed.