Streaming services are pushing me back to the high seas... anyone else feeling this?

edit: question in thread name is rhetorical question

For the past eight or more years, I have been on the straight and narrow. When I first started making my own money, I understood the importance of creative work, even if I grew up pirating everything (who didn't? /s). I understand because I work as a software developer and QA myself. I'm willing to pay for anything — movies, games (not microtransactions), etc. Hell, I'm among the oddballs who continue to attend movies in cinema time to time.

However, I've been feeling like an idiot recently. While subscription costs continue to rise, content libraries are either stagnating or getting smaller. Not to mention the advertisements. I'm still bombarded with advertisements even though I'm paying for these services? What the hell? Then there's the issue of microtransactions in games.

It's getting to the point where I'm seriously considering hoisting the Jolly Roger flag again. I spent a good 10 years torrenting everything under the sun as a kid (our police was such that everyone "heard" that they were doing something about it, but no one ever heard of anyone going to jail for it or getting in trouble - unless you were downloading material "produced" in my country, in which case the ISP would let the police know), and honestly, the convenience (besides speeds of downloads, not so much seeders lately) is starting to look mighty tempting again. I know it's not "right" and creators deserve to get paid, but the current system feels increasingly exploitative.

Anyone else feeling this pull back to the dark side? Is it just me, or are these companies practically begging us to pirate their stuff? I'm genuinely conflicted here. Used to be firmly anti-piracy (except for truly lost media, obviously), but now... I'm not so sure anymore.