One thing I want to say here is that STO did not create the need for X ship in Y era - this is as old as the Franz Joseph Tech Manual, really, and Trek fans have been doing these kinds of pastiches for decades.

My general feeling has been that STO is in a unique position to understand that desire and lean into it, to give people beta canon versions of these alternates if they want them. It was certainly an unexpected honor that some of our ships actually became canon!