Remember, folks, we're not the primary customer base, the japanese are.
We're the outsiders here. We can hardly dictate how someone from an entirely different culture should run their business.
I can totally see the frustration if a dev goes through great lengths to make sure there's an english translation for the game,
and they check out english threads for it, and more than half are going to have a free link in there somewhere.
Nothing we can do much about, sure, but it's still going to sting, to the point where "if they won't help me, why should I help them?" becomes an understandable reaction.
Add to that the fact that, as far as I understand, "piracy" in general is seen a lot more leniently in the western world than it is in japan...
Now, I personally think that even with links, this thread will still generate sales -
there's enough decent people around who buy stuff because it's the right thing to do.
Probably less than how many are freeloading, but that's a whole different discussion (how many of them would have paid for it had it not been otherwise available?)
