When I say "must-have" games I mean games that are the "blockbusters" of games, the ones that sell the most (since this was an arguement about companies losing money)
Whether or not you personally like Q4, D3, or FEAR, you can't debate that they sell more than any starforce game. BTW FEAR > AoE3 ;D
I'll definately pay for a game like FEAR just because they tried something different in the bland formula. Everyone agrees the levels are repetitive (did I just go through this same office room....for the past 10 hours? Owell at least it has slowmo), but it's not the cut and paste Q4.
I will admit that sequals are a big part of the degrading PC gaming industry. Mostly the ones that are slapped together, rehashed, and repackaged at 50 big ones. PC games are not going to self-destruct from piracy (just with movies/music/consoles), and it won't be saved because of StarForce (nor will it "destroy the pirating scene as we know it". If you knew the mentality of the people who crack it, they like the challenge of it.)
If they make a great multiplayer game, you can't play on non-pirated servers (most games), so that should be a direction in anti-piracy, perhaps the best one imo. STEAM-like apps are another means. But spyware-esk progs like SF are pretty craptacular and pointless when it's so easy to get around. They just limit the person who actually wants to pay money for it.