As much as I prefer higher quality, I still dislike snipping without a good reason. Good reasons might be things like -
No release in an unreasonably long time.
Groups that have left MD. Fuck them.
When it comes to the first, maybe offering to help speed things up is better if possible. But that wouldn't apply if they where deliberately delaying releases for donations. If that was really the case, snipe them. Still as a rule snipping isn't great. It creates unnecessary drama and can often lead to groups dropping things. The the sniper often gets bored (or has IRL considerations), and no one is TLing it.
That said deliberate lowering image quality is senselessly stupid. It won't encourage anyone to buy anything.
1. Most people probably won't even know that it is happening, let alone the reason why.
2. The original is usually going to be in a language people aren't able to read, so they have little use for it.
3. Personally (and for people like me) I have no interest in physical copies. I'm happy to read it on screen. Physical copies take up physical storage room. Finding it again necessitates some organizational system I don't feel like implementing/adhering to. Lastly I don't want to cut down trees over one time use items(even if i read it a few times). Digital is just better.
I'm just not going to buy and store something I have no use for, sorry. If there was something like Patreon but for commercial products, that might work. Like "I'm pirating your shit out of pure convenience, but here is some money anyhow." Because I don't want the product - only the content. Anyhow lowering the quality only accomplishes a worse experience for all. Just... don't.