JarlFrank
I like Thief THIS much
I usually pirate a game and try it out. If I like it a lot, I buy it. Still, I don't think less of people who only pirate. People don't realize that piracy is, especially for smaller studios, yet another vector of marketing. You don't get to capitalize on drawing people in through ads if you're a lone dev or a tiny team, so you're basically relying on word of mouth. If someone pirates your game and likes it, then even if he doesn't buy it, he is likely to recommend it to his friends, who might buy it, and so on.
Honestly, if I ever put out my own game, I'd probably e-mail some of the bigger piracy sites and ask them whether they could put my game on the main page or something – I'd know the lost sales are literally zero (I mean, I'd be shilling to pirates), yet the word of mouth effect could be big enough from that to draw more people in and boost sales that way.
Naturally, this doesn't work for AAA titles and the like – you don't need someone to inform you about the newest Asscreed because ads for it are everywhere, and far too often, the person telling you will also add 'don't play this game, it's awful shit' because that's what AAAs usually are. AAA studios thus naturally loathe piracy – not because of lost sales, but because the word of mouth effect is a net negative for them.
Yes.
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/509253-when-the-web-started-i-used-to-get-really-grumpy
Neil Gaiman realized that ebook pirates actually help him broaden his audience and sell more books.