iserith
Magic Wordsmith
If there are 50 foot tall letters across a mountain saying Hollywood, describing what they say is part of describing the environment, even without a player actively saying "I read them".
Or not - asking the player if the character speaks Orcish (what they are written in) is not assuming player agency, it's using mechanical details about the characters to know what to describe.
Sometimes, instead of a boolean "speak orcish", it's something which is less sure and requires a check. For example, with the player description of "I go back to our inn", at some point they cross paths with a pickpocket. If this is noticed requires an ability check, even though the player's stated task for their character did not specifically call for it. The "tell me if I notice I'm getting pickpocketted, stabbed, or any other noticeable agency is working upon me" is inherent in the character being conscious in the world in the world.
Let's not lose the thread here: My objection is in asking for an ability check before I describe what I want to do, not to simply describing the environment without an unprompted ability check. The rules lay out what describing the environment is all about - where the adventurers are, what's around them (which I would reasonably say includes 50-foot-tall letters that spell something out), and presenting the basic scope of options that present themselves - and when the DM may ask for an ability check.
I would say the possibility of pickpockets needs to be telegraphed in the description of the environment (either before or during the scene) in order for the player to make a meaningful decision about it and for the challenge to be fair. After witnessing larcenies in other scenes or being informed by an NPC that the City of Thieves is no place for the unwary, a canny player might say he or she is keeping watch for hidden dangers while traveling the city in which case the DM can use a passive Perception check to resolve uncertainty as to whether the pickpocket is noticed. Or, failing some effort at telegraphing, the DM can simply ask, "While you're traveling the city, what sort of ongoing activity will you be engaged in?" as one might when the PCs are traveling through a dungeon or in the wilderness. A wise PC chooses to Keep Watch unless some other activity would be of more benefit than losing a few coins to a pickpocket.
To do otherwise is to effectively resolve the challenge based on what the player chose during character creation and/or advancement in my view, not what he or she chose to do while playing the game. I believe it should be a bit of both.