No, I've won without doing it. Some people might re-roll the win if you don't but I think that might be against the rules but I'm not sure. If you're not sure about something on the site you can always read the FAQ.

Not saying thanks is not really a valid reason to reroll the winner. If it's gonna be a couple thousand entries, your thanks will get lost, but if it's a personal group thing or just a smaller entry list, it'd be nice if you do thank them. Still, entirely up to you. The important part is to thank them after receiving the gift. IMHO.

Some private and giveaway groups have that rule but not for public.
New winner will be chosen only if the creator says no comment=reroll in his description

No you don't need to say thanks.It's just that a lot of people do it, then the next person does it and the circle continues.

I read "that shit" every my giveaway, and yes, it's pretty nice feeling.

no... unless the GA's description says so (the rule must be authorized by a support member)
anyway, you can leave a non-generic thanks... i always read the comments on my GAs and i always leave a comment if the Giveaway creator made a nice description.

Only private and group giveaways can have rules and must be detailed AND pre-aproved by a staff member.
Then yes, you can require that, or the user has NOT put thanks or a link to a meme or their credit card or a 1000€ transfer, or nah I'm currently joking with the last examples.

As a general rule, no, you don't have to comment on a giveaway in any way to be eligible to win it. As others noted, if it's a private or group giveaway, or the gifter has gotten special rules approved by SteamGifts, this should be specified in the giveaway and then you'd have to meet those requirements to be eligible. But typical public giveaways, no, you can just enter without saying anything and still win. I think many people do comment to be polite, because the gifter has paid for a game and is giving it away for free to someone else who's probably a stranger to them -- it's nice to acknowledge their generosity.

There are two main camps when it comes to leaving a "thanks" in the comments section. One group thinks it's polite and shows gratitude to the giveaway creator. Another group thinks that generic "thanks" spam is more of an insult than a show of appreciation due to the perceived insincerity of it. As for the remaining people, they don't really care much, one way or the other.

While both sides have valid arguments to support their opinions, everyone is pretty much agreed that it comes down to what your intentions are when you post your comment. There is no way to tell what you are thinking or feeling just by looking at the text, so the only importance attached to what you write is in your perception of it when you're in the act of writing the message and the receiver's perception of it when he or she is reading it.

Make of that what you will.

Thanks!

Honestly, I wish people wouldn't leave a random "thanks". The person who wins should say thank you, but the rest just feel like spam.

I do it just because I think it's a nice thing to do.

Well, when I won my first GA here... I did not leave a "generic" thanks comment. But after I got the mail with HB link, I replied with quite non-generic thank you mail :P

I don't bother anymore unless I actually win. Then I'll always be sure to go back and say thanks when the giveaway is over.

Nah, only if I win something.

No it's not a requirement, I've won 30 games from SG so far and don't think to say thanks often. There are some (people who may or) Steam groups who ask for you to say thanks, and I definitely make sure in those; so some may want you to if you managed to win. But overall it's not required, nor a rule of using SG. I'd say your bigger worry would be partially owning some giveaway that includes more than one game, then even if you win and don't own one or more games, the giveaway provider may do a re-roll on you.

EDIT: When people say "instead of the usual thanks..." that could mean they're annoyed by the tons of "thanks" "Thanks!" comments.

well that is just how i am i say thanks for a lot reason but the main reason i do it for the GA is because i am thankful someone took the time to post a game and i do it because it is the right thing to do

people who see it as spam just do not want to bother with just saying thanks which is fine they have the right

but i even say thanks when someone holds a a door for me despite hardly anyone doing the same in return but i guess in some ways this new generation is lost to entitlement and thinking that saying thanks is either weird or not needed

but that is just my opinion as i say it as rude that someone offers you something regardless if you get said item not to say thanks for sharing

Honestly, I find it a bit strange that the "Thank Yous" bug some GA creators so much O.o
Nothing wrong with a bit of politeness on the otherwise rude internet, I think. But what do I know, they probably have their reasons.

Anyway, I usually leave a comment (be it just a thank you or something else) either if the giveaway in question is for a game that I'd really love to have, or when I'm just feeling chatty :)

for me, whether i say thanks in the giveaway depends on the giveaway (edited for clarification)

in public giveaways, i don't really feel compelled to put my thanks in the giveaway page because it's usually pointless to me to thank if i don't win (i only send the GA creator an email saying thanks if i do win)...and mind you, most of my wins were public, so you don't really need to say thanks
i do understand the politeness aspect of it though, call me impolite i guess :3

for private giveaways i do make an effort to leave some thanks message of some sort, though...and as mentioned, in private giveaways, only those may have special support-approved rules like "comment X otherwise I re-roll" or something like that

for public giveaways where the GA creator wants people to write weird shit, i usually abstain from entering them because i'm no good at thinking up weird shit :P

IS IT REALLY HARD TO DO THIS?

New and A lot don't go together. You've entered...81 giveaways and you call that a lot? Enter like 20x more and then you may win. I'll wish you luck :)

Just be polite and leave that "thanks". It doesn't matter about winning.

thanks

Ty