Heck yes I'm bringing npcs forward. Tomolok is from the 24th C. I've got a few Andorians, only two of which are from the present. I'm using a Vulcan scientist from the 22nd C, and I've even created some characters just for interesting social interactions. For instance, I've got a Bajoran science officer from the present, his great aunt got pulled forward and serves as a security officer. Not only does he have reason for concern, but he outranks her, while she sits higher as far as family hierarchies go. So if I ever have either of them become beloved by the PCs, awkward orders/arguments can get them involved in a social conundrum which has to be solved for the good of the mission.

So while none of the PCs have to be from the past (although the opportunity just makes itself so tempting to me), the crew already has a balanced mix of people from the last 300 years of trek history onboard, with a majority (enlisted mostly) coming from the 25th C (my present). As far as time travel headaches.... I've had more problems creating adventures in the gamma quadrant that don't just rehash the old Dominion episodes. Really, there isn't much of a problem. If someone wants to be from the past, that's contingent on their trek knowledge. If they want to be from my present, they'll have perhaps the harder role-playing job since I don't even know all the nuances of the time period yet. There are some major and minor changes over 70 years, and it's also up to them to rein in the other PCs and major NPCs when they make assumptions.

Tomolok says "The merchant demanded proof of my authority before he'd release the shuttle? Audacious." at which point I'd expect someone to make peace before Tomolok has the merchant's ship blown to bits to recover the shuttle containing Captain Sulu and his away team. That kind of thing. Tomolok's kind of hard for me to guage, he's got so many of G'kar's mannerisms (same actor) but his goals and even his speech are so different. He's much more sure of himself for instance. And if he shows up in two episodes I've only seen one of them.

I think I'll close down now, wow that's lots of text.

Lockhart