In similar fashion, downloaded dude where's my car, over dialup, using at the time the latest tech method - a file download system that would split the file into 2mb chunks and download them in order.
I had a 2XL that I absolutely loved. It eventually got screen burn in so bad I could barely use it.
But I held on to it till the 6 came out, and I'm still rocking a fantastic 6 pro. Love it. Have zero interest in paying twice as much for the 9 though.
I pirated Factorio way back when it first came out (0.72?) and I actually didn't like it. It was... Bad.
A few months later someone suggested I give it another go, so I pirated it again. It was a lot better. Like way better. I did a couple of months and was like .. this is soooo good I'm buying it.
Another excellent example of this working is Factorio.
The original game doesn't cost a fortune, it's made by a small extremely dedicated team. They polished it so hard the shine made everything else look like vanta black. Playing Factorio ruins other games because the depth and quality of everything else is so poor in comparison.
The game came out in like 2013 early access. Full release completed in 2020. A decade after initial launch, they are going to offer a DLC, that will cost money.
Absolutely happy to pay for a DLC for that perfection.
Primer
The mystery is working out what's going on. The answer is a way cooler outcome than what you thought going in.