Lower sales figures drive me to seek feedback and figure out whats lacking and what I can do better. But I completely see where you're coming from, especially if you've given it your all.
Looking at the way Apple apps now can deliver in game purchases (not to mention iads) and looking back at the old days when apps were straight sales of the app and nothing more, I think Apple has given developers a way to sidestep some if not all the effects of piracy. : ) At least if you have an an ingame purchase option or iad income, no pirate is going to reach its big thieving hand in there to take away that sale. : )
The lesson here is DO NOT TRY TO PREVENT PIRACY: it is futile, and the time/effort would be better spent a dozen other ways. You also risk annoying paying customers (see the fiascos in PC copy-protection in the last 10 years.)
I agree, don't waste your time preventing piracy. It just comes with the territory. Personally, if I don't see our game getting pirated after release, I'll take that as a sign that we've got a crappy game. Even IAP doesn't deter pirates from what I've heard. But rather than just lying down and taking it, I'd want to see if there was a way to engage with the pirates like the guys who made No Time To Explain: http://torrentfreak.com/indie-game-devs-post-pirated-game-on-the-pirate-bay-110909/ Those guys made a literal "pirate-themed" version of their game that they themselves uploaded to torrent sites. It got them some publicity and maybe even converted some pirates. Then there's the creator of SPAZ, Space Pirates and Zombies, who show a splash screen explaining how they appreciate every sale since they're a tiny studio who spent two years toiling away. Maybe it might deter pirates with a heart, or at least get them to pony up with a buy if the pirates enjoy playing the game. But consider the case of Minecraft. This is a great post from Notch about piracy: http://notch.tumblr.com/post/1121596044/how-piracy-works In essence, people who pirate the game don't get special network features that legit customers get. This was accomplished by the special account you get when you buy the game. We are thinking of doing something similar for the PC/Mac version where paying for the game grants you access to cloud saves via a specially registered account. We might try doing it as an IAP for mobile for the same reason. It won't stop piracy, but it makes the legit version a much better value.
Trainyard was pirated a ton when it first came out, it probably is now too. The key thing is that pirates will never buy the game anyway. You're not losing sales or anything like that, so don't worry about it, just keep making your games as good as they can be
Cavorite suffered a big spike in piracy awhile back. I was more curious / surprised than angry. Probably because the game is profitable regardless. While I don't agree with the motto that "pirates will never pay," piracy has changed my strategy a bit for the near future.
I think you'll find it's more often a case of "buy what you can afford and share the rest." If i had $20 to spend on games it wouldn't matter if I tried 100 games before spending it. I still only had $20. This way I would get to spend it more wisely: on the games I felt earned it.
