When you buy games it gives it more value because you, the purchaser/player, feel the need to justify that purchase. Theres only been a couple games I've payed for and spent less than an hour in. Its also good to think about where your game is coming from, support the developers that need it.
Now there are plenty of benefits to pirating games, paying no cash being the obvious one. But there are plenty of disadvantages that people seem to look past pretty easy. First of all your game is not getting updated much, you probably are not playing online, and getting certain cracks to work can be a very stressful experience. So in the end you aren't really getting the same thing that everyone else payed for, most of the time.
Personally, I pay for the games I like and can afford. There are certain games I never would've played without piracy and there are certain games I would never consider pirating, just preorder like everyone else because I know I will spend multiple hours in it.
I will admit that ppl that brag about the piracy thing tend to get on my nerves. As if they feel like some kinda bigshot crime lord stealing digital games through an internet connection. It is illegal and ppl should be smarter about the way they talk about things. And it just makes you look dumb af.