Before I started watching Star Trek, I had heard about it on the Big Bang Theory. The way it was talked about, I was expecting a franchise with very airtight and complex lore. In reality, it’s kind of a muddled mess. And really, it’s better the creators don’t worry too much about continuity, why let continuity get in the way of a good story? It doesn’t make sense that half the cast of the original series had encountered Trelane before but in the end, does it really matter?
Anyway, fans of big franchises who keep track of all the lore and act as though it’s all consistent, put way more thought into continuity than the creators.
On Star Trek, the lore and what was canon has always been a mess, even before TNG came into the scene. There were a number of “official” books out on extended timelines, ships, and worlds, but no one ever agreed on them. Then as more came out, the old debated stuff kind of disappeared. And some of it was really good. I actually like the old TOS ship designs like the dreadnaught and scouts in some books, and the back history of things like warp drive being invented and improved including some misfortunes along the way. Made it feel real. Loved the old Starfleet Battles and its history and ships.
But there’s never been solid consistency. Same can be said about Star Wars, although I’m not that much into the extended stuff. It does seem sometimes that fan-made ideas are a lot better than studio.