It is one of the wonderful unique things that makes RPGs much more then "just a game".
Now, sure there are people that love playing an RPG exactly like any other "Game". The DM follows Rule Six and makes a Situation. The player has their character do a move action and a manipulate object. The players two actions trigger the DM to do a response action. And so, on. Like a board game or...of course....a wargame.
But RPGs can be More. And this is the reason D&D has stayed popular. And it is simply....leaving the rules on the table.
"Your character is on the edge of the cliff holding the stolen scroll. Six goblins all with clubs are charging down the forest path towards your character. What do you do?"
NOTE the above is NOT asking "What character game action on page 22 do you want your character to do on Game Round 8?" The above is asking "role play your character as if you were your character in the fantasy fictional game".
The player does NOT look down at their character sheet, and look for an ability or power to use. The player utterly ignores the character sheet....and role plays their character.
The player might say "My character will light a torch and hold the scroll over it, and say to the goblins "stop or I destroy the scroll!" ".
No rules or rolls are needed for the above. The player has the character do some actions, and the DM reacts. Then the game play moves on....
Rulings not rolls is in the same mindset. The 'rulings' DM will just have the goblins stop as it makes sense in the role play simulated world.
The rule DM wants the player to make a "pull out a touch action" and "light the touch action DC 5" and then make an Intimidate check to effect the goblins in any way. Taking the game right back to the common game...."I make an intimidate check to stop the goblins". And in the most mechanical style, the player need not even say what they are doing "I do something intimidating and got a 22 for the check"
Rulings and beyond the Sheet...let any character..at least try...anything, no matter what it says on the character sheet.
This is exactly why I'm always talking about improv, because thats what it is.
Cannot really emphasize enough how thinking from the perspective of improv solves so so so so so many issues right off the bat just as a person running or playing in a game.
Its all the more potent in a design perspective, where designing with improv in mind can make things a lot easier for everybody.