I'm with you. Gift giving should be a spontaneous thing that relates to how well we know/like the giftee and other matters such as budget and time constraints. Forced exchanges are rarely much fun for anyone. Secret Santa swaps are a little more enjoyable because each person gets to focus on only one other. Names are drawn and dollar limits set.
I used to belong to a book club that had a fun exchange. Each of us brought a used book that we'd read and liked. They were wrapped but not tagged. We passed them around, and if you got one you'd already read or wanted to swap for whatever reason, that was okay.
For a family gift swap one year we did a white elephant swap where every gift was meant to be something old, regifted or otherwise strictly for grins and giggles, and again, trading with someone was okay. That was fun, except that one of the younger members had his heart set on something that another one didn't particularly want to part with. For adults, it shouldn't be a problem.