Now, I have to weigh the calculus: do I buy the games just because, knowing there is basically zero chance I boot them up? What if that was Blizzard's end game -to drive scarcity?
but now i'm not just snagging a file, i'm creating an entire workflow. i'll just pay for the actual, clean binary
The impact they've had on bundled malware in pirated copies of their games can not be overstated.
They have shown themselves to be bad curators of their own catalogue, so I bought a copy to avoid having issues during some possible future point when I just want to experience some nostalgia.
That's nothing special to game companies. All entertainment companies are the same way. That's why they push for longer and longer copyrights. Copyright is what protects Disney from having to compete with its own past work.
It might be the only way to legally "own" the game but if we want to blur that then it's pretty easy to get in possession of the files.