Do you have any resources you can recommend about using the DB for more than just a dumb datastore?
The first thing I'd be concerned about is how do you manage changes? Code is easy to version control, deploy and roll-back. Database state and things such as triggers, stored procedures, etc, less so.
Not just Rails, any webdev group without the oversight of a DBA/Architect, and a penchant for simplistic ORM (mis)use plus uncorrected opinions around 'webscale' state persistence.
I think I've used Rails seriously only once or twice in my professional life but yeah, mostly treat data-stores as just dumb stores in most projects, unless it has some special requirements.
The first thing I'd be concerned about is how do you manage changes? Code is easy to version control, deploy and roll-back. Database state and things such as triggers, stored procedures, etc, less so.