Manflex55
If you file an IFR flight plan without the means to fly it, you're nuts!
If you have an engine problem and request direct vectors, you will probably get it, but it's not guaranteed. It also depends how many engines you've got to start with.
You cannot realistically GUARANTEE a direct track across the flight paths of 10s of aircraft unless you're gonna fall out of the sky.
I have never heard of NO STAR in a flight plan. What if the airfield radar goes off-line?