Sure. But the argument "it's useless to pirate WoW because you couldn't get on the server anyway" breaks down in this case because you could pirate WoW and run

Sure. But the argument "it's useless to pirate WoW because you couldn't get on the server anyway" breaks down in this case because you could pirate WoW and run a server. Yes, it's not as good as the real thing. Neither is running Starcraft without Battle.net, which doesn't stop it from being a fun game even in pirateable form.