What does the star icon by the users name mean?

It means you're woke

It means you are VIP. You can read reviews and vote on unpublished reviews and articles.

^ you don't have a star and you're VIP

^ never mind - I now see the OP meant in the TUSCLer's TUSCL page

Seems kinda redundant to have both the color, and a star, signify VIP - it should be one or the other, (a star would be better than a color-code) - as such the star should display in all views and not just the TUSCLer's page

I think we should get rid of color-coding altogether and have icons signify the different levels of "TUSCLeness"; where one could hover over an icon and it displays what it means.

What browser are you using? You hover over the star and it says VIP. You hover over the check mark and it says Verified. All names are in black as well. That is how it appears for me.

The site is gradually changing over to the new format. You'll see both for a while.

^ thanks for the update