I tried not to pirate, but there was no legal way to stream Game of Thrones, so we would do watch parties. Eventually HBO came to Canada through bell and I could watch it online.

That moment was pretty great, I could watch all my shows, and HBO, and Netflix was putting out some strong content.

Then everyone decided they wanted a piece of the pie. Netflix has continued increasing prices while everyone pulled their content out, Amazon turned prime video into a roulette wheel of "can I watch this or not", and Disney+ launched and very quickly turned into only shovelling garbage quality star wars and marvel projects, and now everyone is stuffing ads into their shitty content fiefdoms.

We're back to where piracy is the better experience and now I can't watch the content I want because it's at most 2 shows a year per platform.

[–] BearOfaTime@lemm.ee 82 points 10 months ago (1 children)

When they remove access to content I paid for... Fuck em.

If buyin' ain't owning, piracy ain't stealin'

[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 31 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

To be fair, streaming was never buying. It was always paying entry to a library. If stuff gets removed from the library that's the way it is.
That isn't to say I don't agree. Piracy is a service problem, as Gabe Newell so eloquently put it. Streaming started losing the moment it started splintering into cable networks.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 29 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Sony allowed you to purchase episodes and seasons of shows like Mythbusters. They specifically stated you were purchasing that content.

Then they removed that purchased content from people's account's after they went separate ways with Discovery. Sony and Discovery stole from their customers

[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 12 points 10 months ago

Yea, that's just plain stupid of them. I don't know how they expected that to go over.

Oh yes, I bought that content, but sure, take it away. I totally understand that the licensing changed.

– No one, ever

[–] The_v@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Media companies, "We are losing money because people don't want to pay."

Or just maybe, your product sucks and people are finding alternatives to avoid dealing with you.

Currently pirating or streaming from a secondary site is faster, better quality, and easier to use. It's really not that hard to figure out.

[–] Chais@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Yup. You can pay Netflix for 4K, but you can only get 4K with Edge on Windows and even then only if you have the right hardware. Like, what's the point? On Linux you can only get 1080p by spoofing your just agent. Otherwise they only give you 720p.

[–] honeyontoast@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Had a very similar experience at the end of last year. Was sick of the bullshit all the providers were pulling and set up jellyfin.

Now running that on a pi so we've got our own streaming platform with movies and shows that you'd either need at least three separate services for or just outright won't find if you don't pirate.

[–] pbjamm@beehaw.org 1 points 10 months ago

Disney+ is the only one i subscribe to here in BC. Since it comes combined with STAR (almost-Hulu) it is a fair value. TV service from Telus is stupid expensive and I still would not get to watch my hockey team. Not that I want to right now with them backpedalling so fast. Fucking Kings...