You can't turn off pirates, they will always be in the game. If you go to Game Options when you are loading or creating a game, you can make the pirates inactive. When the pirates are inactive, they stay at their base. I used that to beat my first game. Before I found out that you could make them inactive, I usually lost quickly or lost lots of ships.
I think that slow thing is just normal. When I load a game, the loading bar goes about 3/4 full and then the game screen comes up. Then the game is slow for about a minute. If you wait a few minutes it should speed up some. If that doesn't work... then idk.
I think the achievements are there so you have something to do. It would get boring after a few days if there was no goal/mission. I've never heard anything about space ponies though. :D
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I do want a campaign mode, and I partly agree with the three campaigns. I think all three campaigns should be the same story, but you get to play the TEC, Advent, and Vasari.