illegal downloading of games is there some wiggle room?

https://youtu.be/NWhTLvNEYbQ?t=891

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/09/eu-study-finds-piracy-doesnt-hurt-game-sales-may-actually-help/

1 life, I enjoy it how I can

Well, you opened Pandora´s box here with this thread...again!

To be honest, I don´t think It´s worth It at this point. There´s so many options of good F2P games on the PC that It´s crazy. And what about the Humble Bundle freebies that everytime get better and their $1 dollar bundle we often see here. Not to mention free games at Origin.

Regional pricing was a real smart move by Gabe Newell. Some people may think this is unfair, but at the end It´s based on the economy of each country AND I´m pretty sure It had a huge impact on piracy (at least on the PC). If the music and movie industry would have adopted this model years ago the losses would have been small imo. But they had to lose millions to start giving movie DVD, Blu Ray and music CDs at a reasonable price. They did this until the problem was unsustainable.

I do have a problem with some gaming companies like Activision cause they don´t really care about you as a consumer. Just go to their support website and you will see a bunch of tickets with no reply. I just went there cause I wanted to help my nephew with an issue but they just don´t give a **** about you. Why should you care about this company then?

Most consoles: PS1, PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, were hacked somehow, there will always be people that will find a way to get more with less. Last time, I heard Denuvo was hacked and they claimed It was "uncrackable". Newer consoles have better anti piracy systems but I´m pretty sure that at the time of this comment someone is trying to find a way to get in there, just for fun or for profits.

Copyright Infringement is a crime, yes, but It´s up to your government (and to yourself) how this is punished. This is why in Germany is a no no. You can´t compare first world countries with developing ones. And yes I know...that doesnt exempts you from a crime (a crime that is barely punishable at least in my country). Ok yes, from time to time we have these federal police and ministerial police "operatives" or "raids" where the "good guys" confiscate stuff from the "bad guys" to keep them in line or maybe cause they didn´t pay their cut last two months...so It´s more complicated here than just "you´re stealing from somebody".

Well, after all this mumbo jumbo of mine, all I can say is: support indie devs the most you´re able to, they are the ones that constantly listen to their playerbase, not like the big dogs. I just wonder when Bluehole will become the next Activision...

So in conclusion, is piracy wrong? YES. Will It end? NO.

That's a pretty biased way to ask the question. "Wiggle room" suggests it's wrong in general but might be acceptable in limited circumstances, whereas the reality is that it's a great thing in general and problematic in limited circumstances.

I occasionally download games I purchased in the past that I don't have (working) backup copies of. For example, years ago I bought No One Lives Forever 2. I paid for it at retail, full price, but I've moved since then, had entire books of CDs stolen, etc. I don't have my original CDs but I paid for it and I can't imagine that being legally or morally wrong.

Does it really matter?

I think it's all right only in the case of scarcity/unable to access it in any other way.

For example: Mother 3 has never been localized in English. I want to play it, so either I have to buy a very expensive copy that's no longer in production and learn to read fluent Japanese.... or I download an emulator and a fan-made patch. I took the second option and had a spectacular experience I literally could not have had otherwise.

For other scenarios, you're wading into murky waters, though I can't disagree with the premise of 'I'll play it a bit, and if I end up liking it I'll stop and buy the game', especially if you're tight on cash. Getting money to the developers is what's important here, and as long as that happens at some point I can't complain, especially if you then 'make up' for it by talking about the game a lot to your pals.

Ultimately you can do what you want for whatever reason you have. If another person doesn't have the money to buy the $60 game (yes they can afford the pc one time but it doesn't mean they can afford $60 games every time) then if I'm not going to provide that game for them, who am I to deny what they want to do with their freedom?

"It affects the industry" Not a definite situation. If the people never had the purchasing powe/expendable income to afford the game in the first place, then they would have been a non-factor at all. In my country 1TB worth of pirated games is only being sold at $6-$10, old me dealing with converted $60 prices for these games wouldn't have blinked an eye to buy that. You always have to factor economics and purchasing power parity as to why certain regions pirate more than other regions.

i call it full game demos as i dont own the game but i can still play it

Just don't get caught by the internet police

I'd always translate it as if it was for myself:
I need money to pay rent and put food on the table. Imagine I made a game and invested allot of time in it. When it's done, I need to sell it, otherwise I can't make another game, due not having money for rent and food anymore. Now there comes a person along who is interested; I explain the game, show a small video, show screenshots and reference to reviews. Sadly I didn't have time nor money to put up a good working demo that will show how the game is, but I can show some play-through videos on YouTube and Twitch. The person is convinced and buys it. After two hours the person comes back, telling me it's a shit game worth nothing and asks all the money back. The next day I speak to a friend, who to my surprise said already played it. Then I find someone put my game on the internet for free and I lost all control over it. I'm no longer able to earn money from it - unless the downloader thinks the game is nice enough to give me money for it..

TL;DR I already think the two hour refund period is more than enough. I'm not a saint, but I'm always realizing someone put effort in it and that someone needs money too. In case of big developers, the workers of the company and the shareholders who invested money in it so the game could be made in the first place. In case of an indie game, just as my example so they can put food on the table or encourage them to make more.

It's much easier when you are giving up only about 3 days of food in money by buying a freshly released game, but if you are giving up 3 weeks of food or even more in some other places, it becomes overpriced.
Also, many people who download game eventually buy the game itself, if there is a way to do so in order to contribute.
Aside from that, 2-hour refund should be more than enough for majority of games.
I don't think wiggle room can be fully answered, for example:
Someone pirates it and plays the game, likes it, doesn't buy it, but then convinces X other people to buy it. Is that person still bad? If no, what number makes the change and why?