Those stars under your profile... how and why are they there?

The stars under people's usernames on the forums? They're awarded for posting, you get 1 star for every 750 forum posts, up to 6 stars max.

That’s.. That’s a lot of posts ._. (Thanks)

It is, but they build up over time, especially if you participate in discussions during site events and stuff. I think most of the people with 6 stars have been around for a while anyway (9 years for myself).