In WGP events, what does it actually mean when it's said to be a 1*, 2*, 3* or 6* event etc? More stars = more ranking points, is that it?

other than the big WC, WGPF, etc. the prize money for the tournament influences the * rating of an event.

i am guessing that the idea behind it is that a tournament with higher prize money will attract better player thus will means it is more significant in the rankings. however, this is not always the case.

Mmm... yes that seems to be the case. The more starts, the more prize money. However, don't the number of stars also influence how many ranking points you get in the tournament? A win in USA Open (1*) gives less ranking points than, say, Danish Open (6*)... ??? I remember watching last years Danish Open MX finals, between the two Danish pairs Eriksen/Schjoldager and Sogaard/Olsen, and the commentators said that there was a lot of prestige invlolved and that winning the Danish Open gives "huge amounts of ranking points". (Soogard/Olsen won, by the way, in rather badly played 3-setter)

The prize money determines the number of stars a tournament has and yes the idea is to attract the top players. The ranking points available are then determined by the star rating of the tournament - the higher the star rating the more ranking points available. The winner of a 7* tournament will get 600 points compared to 240 points for a 1*.