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.

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 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.

Yes, I go to concerts.

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 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.

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

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

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.

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 pay for non popular things - bands that aren't well known, YouTube creators who haven't started doing those stupid "MUNDANE TASK 😱 GOES WRONG!" thumbnails yet, games or software that are free to download but hey maybe some money would be cool if you could, independent news and radio, etc.

Once something is popular I'll just thieve it. Artists are creators deserve to get paid for their work, but once they start getting paid dozens of times over for no extra effort it's hard to feel too bad about borrowing a free copy.

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.

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.

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

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

I feel bad buying things DRM'ed, so I very rarely do, and not for myself. I don't want to fund that. Feels much better funding DRM free work.

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.

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

In the past I have very much bought the content legally, by the normal means. The issue of giving to the creators directly I don't know though.

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.

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.

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.