Trick or Treat Exchange

As an exchange newbie - I've only done yuletide once - I was planning on joining ToT for the first time this year, because I really wanted to try character OR matching. The switch to relationship matching made me decide not to bother. Even though technically character matching was still allowed, it felt like gen writing was being devalued and turned into a second class citizen tolerated on sufferance but not really wanted. Which maybe just is the reality of how fandom feels about it...