"How can you ever get any better playing against this kind of opposition? I notice alot of people move away from stars when taking poker seriously, is this something I should consider or am I just having a bad run?"
Who said/agreed with this?
Stars has the best amount of fishy players and the best competition consistently play and win there.
If thats not a combination you want to win moneyagainst worse players/play better players, then I don't know what you are looking for.