Loius C.K. got to do that because he had already made a name for himself. Louis C.K. couldn't do that if he wasn't already famous.

And while you say your circle of friends just pirates to "try it", most people that I've heard that reasoning from inevitably find some reason to not pay at all. "Oh, I ended up finishing the game. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be, so I'm just not going to pay."