Waaaah, you killed my monster post!
But +1 for what you said,
I own Sins of the Solar Empire with all addons as well as the combo-box release Sins of the Solar Empire Trinity. So thanks for reminding me of this one as it is another good example for a game that was kind of niche but actually very successful from there without any disturbing copy protection.
I wish more game developers and publishers would actually deliver great quality and get the sales they deserve instead of whining over piracy because they produced crap and forgot about it as soon as it was released, wondering why people get mad and refuse to buy their title full price.