Piracy has become an easy scapegoat for publishers that make dumb games for even dumber audience. Do you honestly believe that had there been no piracy, everyone would purchase the games they download? Don't forget, many people download something, try it for a few minutes and shift-delete. This used to be the roles for demos, but how many demos have there been lately? How many before release (and "release")? And we all know why almost no demos are released before the games are.
Another reason why PC gamers are seen as tough crowd is because they still have some standards. The console audience seems to just shell cash on any small bullshit thrown in them. Perhaps you remember the good old term "expansion pack"? Haven't heard it a lot lately, have you? It used to mean that you would get a big pack of content, often 33% to sometimes 100% more content, that would complement and enhance the gameplay. What do you have now? DLC packs, that are so often just content that was cut from the game to maximize profit for greedy publishers. And why shouldn't they? Xbots seem so eager to buy buy buy. 3 maps map-pack? "WAAAAAANT" -> shell out 800 points. Costumes and two maps? "WAAAAAANT" -> shell out 800 points. 40 minutes of additional "campaign"? "WAAAAAANT" -> shell out 800 points. And you wonder why PC sales are low? Seriously?
Why is it then, that games like Galactic Civilizations 1 & 2 make good profits, very good in fact, despite having no copy protection and being pretty much available on all warez sites? I think you know the answer to that. There isn't some secret formula to maximize profit from the PC community; make a good game and sales will follow. Make a console turd, converted to PC with mouse and keyboard controls (and graphics options!!!!), and piracy will be blamed.

Sorry for the tl;dr, this is something I am very passionate about.