Bill Zebub
“It’s probably Matt Mercer’s fault.”
That a player never describes a particular PC as intimidated, if it otherwise fits with that character, is more or less OK.
That a player never describes any of their PCs as intimidated even when doing so would fit with the character otherwise, is abusing the system. And I've known many a player who would do just this until and unless a game mechanic forced a change of thinking.
Put another way, IME many players are bad at self-penalizing and need the game to apply penalties for them.
Does it have to be "abusing" the system? What if somebody just has a more heroic image in mind when they play D&D?