When I say that you should pay homage to a ship that already uses a name, I'm thinking of more like making sure that there is room for both the previous ship to have been lost or destroyed, and for the ship that is to replace her to be commissioned. I don't think that it is necessary to start using letters, unless that trend has already been started for that name, or the ship has a certain following.
I also think that it might not be a bad idea to come up with an in-universe reason for why the name is being used for a newer ship (for example: perhaps the Akira-class James T. Kirk was one of the vessels destroyed during the ongoing Klingon-Federation War).
Make her the new Prime Universe Excelsior (why the hell haven't we heard that name in twenty years, eh?). She's got the ample nacelles for it.
~Belisarius
Uh, lets not go there, because there already is a fan design that currently has that name, and I have every intention of sticking with this current ship.
Personally, I think both Vektor and Fuzzy deserved to place somewhere in the top four (though I can't choose between them...love both designs for different reasons). What I find myself questioning are many of the other selections for honorable mention. Some of those designs are grade-A shisno.
~Belisarius
Yeah, I'm thinking the same sort of stuff. I personally disagree with C. Calloway's design being in second place. I don't intend or want to be rude, but I just don't like it, and it just gives me another reason not to like necks for future designs. I think the Joshua Samuelson's Pinnacle class or the Vektor's Magellanic class should have been in second place. As for it being in the top 25, I won't disagree on that account.
I won't necessarily disagree with D. Shick's design or JM Trexler's Ark Royal being in the top four, though on the other hand, I think that Fuzzy Modem's Frontier class should at the very least have been amongst the top 25, and perhaps even among the top four.
I also disagree with the choices of some of the runner ups. I personally don't think that L.O. Barnett Jr's Discovery class (considering how early he submitted it, when he could have continued to work on it; it looks unfinished, and even a little unrefined), B. Crick's design, J. Kurfner's design, A. Anderson's design, D. Vargas's Omega class, J. Inabinet's Sol Class, A. Laws design, and O. Montgomery's design (which is not a bad sketch, but he could have and should have spent more time refining his sketch. I spent as much time on it as I could, and pretty much ended up submitting it towards the last minute.) aren't quite as deserving of the top 25 as some of the other entrants. I don't want to be rude or offensive, to the designers who worked on these designs, or anyone else, but I have to be candid, and I think that Fuzzy Modem's Frontier class, Dac's design, and Sean's design (which I never really liked, but still apparently had a lot of work put into her and her presentation. To be completely honest, one of the reasons that I entered the contest because I didn't like the neck and the secondary hull one bit, and I didn't want this ship to become the next Enterprise if I had anything to say about it. I truely hope I haven't offended you Sean, because I respect you as not only the designer of the Luna class, but various other designs as well) deserved to have a place in the top 25 before these other designs.
). I spent a TON of time on my Titan design, and I haven't let it go. I don't plan to. I love it.
