My random thoughts:
The decision to
leech comes down to either to convenience and/or cost. I will usually consider the legit option first if the cost is reasonable for the product offered, and it must be convenient.
Streaming services have definitely brought down the overall cost over more traditional delivery methods and IPTV has become ridiculously cheap.
Online event stream quality has improved substantially over the years and I believe also cut into the available
leecher pool.
Many private
trackers are all about
ratio, so one needs to be selective what they’re downloading to avoid dipping too low. There are also so many more serviceable private
trackers now, which spread out the total number of
leechers available.
Lastly, just time available. There is so much content out there these days and people’s busy lives limit the time available to spend enjoying the vast amount of content.