Acquisition

[Nerys Myk]

Im watchin this now for the first time.
I skipped over many Ent episodes before and am watching them all now.

The memory alpha article says this messed up continuity and that angerd many fans.
How did it do that?

Well, the Ferengi never turned up until the TNG era so they couldn't possibly have existed before that.

Enterprise was clearly a TOS prequel, and was therefore limited to using / mentioning aliens that existed only at the time of TOS.

Of course they did. Thats like saying American Indians didn't exist before Columbus. The Ferengi seemed to be quite well known. The Federation knew what their ships look like, what their name was and what their Modus Operandi is. All they lacked was a picture. There were probably Ferengi all over the UFP who simply used false information about their origins. I think there is one at the Bonestell Recreation Facility on Starbase Earhart when a newly graduated Ensign Jean-Luc Picard is stabbed by a Nausicaan.