In the "old days," when there were no such thing as STARs or radars, all aircraft had to fly "full procedures", which normally meant flying overhead the airport or a nearby navigational beacon, flying away from the airport for a pre-determined period of time, or to a certain distance from the airport while descending, and then turning back and getting established on the inbound track before commencing further descent on the inbound track.
Australia didn't bother with STARs until a couple of years ago - so the old days aren't that old for some of us! We still have some primary airports without radar.
Never, IFR or VFR, have I had to fly overhead a primary airport - I think you underestimate our ATC bretheren
