It's not the cost. I've not pirated anything since Steam and GOG came along. It's just that games nowadays want you to be online all the time, force you to open accounts you don't want, try to sell you in game items (that's a brilliant idea to get money from certain types of people, a bit like religion, do congratulations to whoever came up with that).

I want games to be single player playable, offline, start to finish. I'll buy expansion packs if the game is worth it. It's it too much to ask?