@Jason -

As an average WordPress user, I refuse to install anything that doesnt have a minimum of 4/5 stars and they have to be averaged over a minimum of 500 ratings. Anything less is almost guaranteed to be either dodgy, useless, or both.

I won’t even click the info link unless I see it’s 4/5, and simply click ‘back’ the moment I get to a plugin page if there are < 200 ratings.

You're certainly within your rights to do so, but you're going to miss 90% of the best/most useful Plugins and Themes in the directory. This is WordPress, not Amazon; ratings/reviews just haven't reached the saturation point to make such high standards (4/5 stars, minimum 200 ratings) practical.