Dammit, Sol.

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)
Casual seems to be the most appealing to me. When I discovered SG I was all like "Whoa, I can win free games here!" and I joined a whole bunch of ratio/monthly groups pretty early on. But now I cut down on my group list, as I prefer giving games when I feel like it, not when the timer tells me to.

2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)
Anything. I prefer giving away different games - be it shiny AAA titles or fantastic bundled indies. If I know there are people interested in a game, I want to give it to them.

3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)
Pff, anywhere between $20 and $200, since it will depend on my mood, on how comfortable I am around the people in the group, and on my lack of common sense ^_^

4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)
I am trying to be social, but usually I'm not the most talkative person in the world :)

5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))
It looks like I have 476 games on Steam + maybe 30 retail copies. I stick to one game if I really get hooked, but most of the time I hop between 5-6 games.

6) (Optional): Feel free to share more related to the subject.
I've been fortunate enough to find myself in several absolutely fantastic groups, where people are fun to chat with and play games with. Who would have thought that I would enjoy multiplayer games? :)

1) Casual, i hate Win-Ration Groups, or Raffles, but i love Giveaways <20 Entrys :D

2) Games that most of the People can join, i try to get preorder games alot , or very new released ones, so the whole group is able to join.

3) Random, depends on my free money to spend :) Ranges from like 5-10€ to 100€, my biggest giveaway was on Christmas, because man i love Christmas :D

4) i like chatrooms if they are populated without me already, i can idle like almost 24/7 and if i like it i might stay there i guess,
and im always open to play some games

5) Steamcounter : (709) and increasing , i try to give every game a chanche at least once,
plus i own about 100 retail copys, but i want to collect them on steam aswell :D

Well, this has been quite the informative thread. The new kids all say go the the 1:1 route, and force them to make GA's. The older crowd say take it easy, keep it casual. And it's usually the big spenders who say "Take it easy." Does SG do that to you? First you you just wanna winwinwin! but after a while you just settle in, and don't care so much about winning anymore? Well, you still have to win sometimes to get you going. It's like at the casino: you can lose all you want, but if you win just once in a while you just keep playing. Just a random line here: I too voted casual, so let me just casually slip this code ErV5Y in. Also, do you enter group GA's differently than others? Are you more discriminative to enter games you actually want, instead of OK games? Or not, since you know the people?

TL; DR: Meh, just ramblings. Not quite awake yet. :)

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)
-Casual

2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)
-Bundle Games

3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)
$1-5

4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)
-Few days per week

5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))
20 games, I mainly played COD but recently I discovered the Indie Games Super Meat Boy / Don't Starve / The Binding of Isaac, and that's funnier.

6) (Optional): Feel free to share more related to the subject.
Never won on SG, can I whine ?

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain) I used to prefer casual groups but I've come to like 1:1 groups, too.

2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything) - Quality titles.

3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc) - That really depends on the group.

4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily) - I am not the most active chatter but I like to participate in gaming events.

5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S)) - I play 2-3 games excessively until I am bored with them and move on to something else. I also have a few games that i never uninstall, not all of them are on steam however.

Here are my opinions, Sol. :)

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)

I have always been in casual groups. Never been in 1:1 ratio groups as I do no like the concept. When I joined SG I remained groupless for a long time. After a while got invited to a group by Daze when he started it. I have made many good friends. We started as a group with rough rules but slowly we added rules and events which have added a lot more participation in the group. Being in chat is great, even though I dont chat much as I only jump in when there is some discussion in which I could contribute. I am an old guy so usually weigh my options a lot before joining any discussion. For me group activity is more important, example playing multiplayer games together, chatting. Giveaways are always secondary.. not everyone will always have the financial resources to contribute to the group. However I do agree to give something back if you are winning something from the group.

2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)

Everything. Though everyone loves to give away AAA titles. I create all kind of giveaways. Majority of my giveaways are in the 2 groups which I am active. My giveaways have ranges from lowest minimum to highest.

3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)

30-250$. It all depends how much you are involved in the group. If you are happy being in a group with lovely people around.. you dont bother how much you are spending on giveaways. end of the day it is the good feeling when you giveaway something in a group, you love to be a part of. :)

4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)

I am always online in group chat when I am logged in steam. When I am at work, I do not log in to chat as it results in some distraction which I think is not good while working. lol. I think you should always be in the group chat when you can even if you do not talk much. There might be some discussion which you might be interested in to participate. AND.. how are you going to interact in a group and be a part of it if you dont talk to them. :)

5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))

I have roughly 300 games (minus DLCs) and I tend to play variety of games depending on my mood. Might vary from a casual game to an action title. I mostly prefer RPG though. :)

6) (Optional): Feel free to share more related to the subject.

I was lucky to find SG. Before SG I had ZERO steam friends. Being part of two great groups gave me opportunity to know a lot of great people. Groups are something which gives you a sense of community.. rather than just being on SG to leech games. :)

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)
Casual/ the kind of group that puts "friendly community" before "big giveaways".
2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)
Since I'm only entering giveaways for games I truly want, I want to try to focus on giving games that seem interesting and have been given away just a few times.
3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)
$0. Don't want to explain about that.
4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)
Many of you will know me from chat rooms, and if you don't, lemme tell you that I'm pretty active (not so much on weekdays 'cause I go to school), I like chatting a lot.
5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))
180 games. But I often ignore the ones that haven't been played yet to play Killing Floor.

1.casual

2. anything
3. as long as its a good group(my standards are quite high) all my extra money
4. chat room not rly but chat with ppl in the group maybe few days a week
5. 300? maybe less but CSS is my love. will try most games if it has a good review
6. <3

1)Casual I suppose. You definitely need to explain those terms.
2)Anything will work.
3)As much as I can. (look at my profile for more info on that)
4)Never. I have barely any time to play games so joining chat is out of question for me. Sorry.
5)Check profile. Right now I've been playing off-steam game - SC2 - for months.
6)I hate private groups. I hate people who start and 'run' private groups because private groups are mainly 'look at us' type and are usually made of mostly 12 year olds (or those who behave like they're 12 years old.).
Enjoy.

1) casual

2) any, but req 1 non bundle a month(bundle games are just good extras), no ratio requirements(or an entire bundle gift url)

3) depends on the titles/sales, other that excess from bundles I won't buy anything I consider junk, not even to giveaway, can't really give a good average for this since it can vary greatly(ex, if I get some OT I might be more willingly to spend a few hours wage to giveaway something) .. I guess to give a range - $1-40

4) once in a blue moon, I have a tight schedule, and I rather be gaming than chatting, so not very social

5) 124 games(258 incl dlc), I try to rotate between a few but not to many at a time

I feel like you are excluding all the cool people from this survey by only asking of the opinion of unsatisfied and non-members. The latter will have ideas of what a good group would be, but no experience to tell them otherwise. The former has experience, but obviously no will to change anything. I am in one group I am currently contemplating leaving, because it is super dead. I guess I prefer a more lose style. When people arent forced, everyone seems more relaxed and happy. Though there are themed groups that work well and I enjoy them. I feel like if you are concerned with dollar amounts, maybe gifting isnt for you. I petty much just buy whatever tickles my fancy. I may occasionally check on whether or not many group members have the game, but thats about it. I try to avoid full price because I have always been a penny pincher (and yet I gift, what a fucking contradiction!). I chat when I can. I force myself not to join simply because I know I have other stuff that needs to get done. Women are like flowers, they need attention. I also really enjoy prejudice humour even though I find it despicable behaviour. I own more than I need and I tend to binge. I binge on a girl, I binge on a food, a drink, a sweet, a game, a sport, everything. I have short term addictions. If you believe my mum, that single minded focus is what makes me so well versed in oh so many things, but also what ruins my relationships. High five mum advice. The fuck. There is nothing else related to this subject that I care to discuss. Group events can be nice. Game related or GS related. Just activity. Keep the beat. Also no formatting since you didnt want my opinion. Stoooopidhead.

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)
I like casual because I don't like pressure. Pressure to make giveaways, pressure to participate a certain amount... etc. Someone else said this already but I happen to agree: I don't think generosity should be something that you require because then it's not generosity. Groups that require giveaways seem like they're more interested in getting games than anything else. Of course SOME groups aren't like that, I get that. But most "make a giveaway every x" groups start from greed.

2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)
A variety. I give anything I happen across whether it's bundle leftovers or something I picked up on sale or just something I happened to have lying around... whatever.

3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)
$1-5; maybe more if it's a good month. Though that's probably just talking how much I'd actually pay. The actual stuff I giveaway might exceed that if I find good sales, or, as I said, I have bundle games left over (though this should pretty much be a given I thought I'd just make it clear)

4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)
I'm okay in forums but I don't particularly like chatrooms because I just struggle with social situations. It's a personal problem. I get anxiety about whether people will acknowledge what I said/talk back to me or if they'll be really mean or just ignore me all together... In any case, I work too much to sit in chatrooms for extended periods of time. Not because I don't have any free time but when I'm not working I want to be doing what I like to do which doesn't go well with having to respond to people in chat (as in I need my attention elsewhere). This answer probably made me sound really stereotypically nerdy and kind of a jerk but whatever.

5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))
My steam "All games" thing says 340. I'll trust that over my profile number since it reflects how many games I actually own and can play individually. I play different games but currently not playing a big variety since I'm making my way through long games like Fallout NV and Kingdoms of Amalur.

6) (Optional): Feel free to share more related to the subject.
I really don't like "participation is mandatory" type groups since most of the time participation takes me past my comfort zones. I like moving at my own pace with communities. Little posts here and there. Couple people get a bit familiar with seeing my name around... etc. I take things slow. Not everyone wants to be thrown into a "party". I also like groups that offer topics. So not just "here's a social group now POST SOMETHING and TALK" but more like "Today let's talk about X". Topics are a good way to include people since it's inviting everyone to post their opinion while the former method makes someone like me feel on the outs since I don't really know many people or know what to say.

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)
i feel like 1 giveaway for an entry fee and then 1 game giveaway per wins that way the cycle will continue and everyone will be happy.
2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)
everygame would do but ofc depends on the entries, i would say if one person do a giveaway of bundle game and noone joins then it would be asked for that person to change the giveaway to a better one because the community doesn't want that game.
3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)
depends on the group giveaways. if everyone is giving away quality games i would be able to give up to $60 monthly or per wins.
4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)
i am not going to sit in a chatroom alone for days so if anyone is there i would pop in to say hello and see where it goes. if noone is in chat i wouldn't use even 1 byte of ram to keep that screen open.
5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))
i have about 100 games and i wish to finish them all one by one but i play dota 2 on a daily basis. i was able to finish about %40 of my games.
6) (Optional): Feel free to share more related to the subject.
i don't like and understand the requirement of comment ratio in private groups. i don't thank for the giveaways and i only comment on posts that is interesting to me or i have an insight i can add. there is a saying "if speech is silver, silence is golden" so i speak only when i have something good to say. Does that make anyone unsocial ?

everyone will be like TOO LONG DIDN'T READ

1) What kind of group structure do you prefer, monthly, 1:1 ratio, casual, etc? (feel free to digress a little and explain)

Casual.

2) What kind of giveaways are you interested in giving away? (bundle games, less than $5s, anything)

Whatever i have left over.

3) How much do you see yourself committing to a private group on a monthly basis? (eg. $1-5, $20, $15-35, etc)

$0-20. I don't really do the whole private giveaway group thing.

4) Do you consider yourself social and how often would you join a chatroom? (never, once a week, few/most days per week, daily)

Yes, everyday as long as people are active.

5) How many games do you own (feel free to round) and do you tend to stick to one game or play many different games? (ex: 200 games, I mainly play one game (CS:S))

About ~600. I mainly play TF2 but i'm willing to play other games with people.

6) (Optional): Feel free to share more related to the subject.

about Ratio i tihnk 1:2 is the fair one about the value..... suprisingly, that depend one YOU, or someother people.... You see if you enter a group ...and only see that GA they make are the decent one....even high value, you just can't throw in some cheap , lame 75 % discount game. You will haev to ..think and chose some discount but good game to make GA