Hi all, just bought the game a few days ago and I'm really liking it so far (despite getting thrashed about every time I go online, but I'm learning).

I'm also trying to get all the achievements unlocked (at about 33% right now), but I wanted to ask what the actual, um, purpose of doing so is. Yes, I've sifted through the search function of this forum and yes, I've looked through the user manual a couple of times, but I found no real mention of it. Do the achievements unlock anything? Do they improve the game somehow?

I've seen mention that the achievements help you 'understand the game better', but sometimes I fail to see how. 'Beat the game while researching everything on the civilian tree, and nothing on the military' is more an exercise in tedium than in strategy (it takes a LONG time to do all those researches, even on fast research speed, and then you have to do it 6 different times to boot). On the other hand, I think the achievements of 'own every capital ship at once' and 'beat the game with nothing but capital ships' in a single game is really quite fun.

Also, I have no idea what this 'star ponies' thing is about, so if someone could clear that up it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks.