I'm strongly in favor of keeping relationship matching as an option for next year! I requested both characters and relationships, and I appreciated not having to drop the characters I only want in a specific ship. I've been in a lot of danmei fandoms recently, where I get very OTP-focused ;)
On offers, this might have been the most matchable I've ever been in Trick or Treat. I was able to offer some fandoms that I'd previously had to drop due to interest mismatches that were impossible to avoid with character-only matching.
Trick or Treat was my first ever exchange, and I've been participating since 2015. I have a great time every year, and previously didn't have a strong opinion on character vs. mixed matching. But it was fantastic for me this year, and I would like to have it again for future TOTs :)
edit: because I was curious and had the CSV, I ran some numbers on requests. I don't believe mixed matching led to relationships taking over the exchange -- most people wanted a mix.
Participants requesting just relationships: 25 (9%) Participants requesting just characters: 41 (15%) Participants requesting a mix of both: 209 (76%)
edit 2: I was also curious about concerns that mixed matching would make people think requesting characters was inherently a gen request. Looking at the gifts received by the 41 people who requested only characters, I think the numbers may be reassuring for that concern. Of those 41 people:
8 (20%) received just ship gift(s). 14 (34%) received just gen gift(s). 18 (44%) received a mix of both gen and ship gifts.
no subject
On offers, this might have been the most matchable I've ever been in Trick or Treat. I was able to offer some fandoms that I'd previously had to drop due to interest mismatches that were impossible to avoid with character-only matching.
Trick or Treat was my first ever exchange, and I've been participating since 2015. I have a great time every year, and previously didn't have a strong opinion on character vs. mixed matching. But it was fantastic for me this year, and I would like to have it again for future TOTs :)
edit: because I was curious and had the CSV, I ran some numbers on requests. I don't believe mixed matching led to relationships taking over the exchange -- most people wanted a mix.
Participants requesting just relationships: 25 (9%)
Participants requesting just characters: 41 (15%)
Participants requesting a mix of both: 209 (76%)
edit 2: I was also curious about concerns that mixed matching would make people think requesting characters was inherently a gen request. Looking at the gifts received by the 41 people who requested only characters, I think the numbers may be reassuring for that concern. Of those 41 people:
8 (20%) received just ship gift(s).
14 (34%) received just gen gift(s).
18 (44%) received a mix of both gen and ship gifts.