Historical wargames are especially egregious for this. One thing I love about Wehrlegig and Fort Circle is that they actually put effort into onboarding new players with rulebooks that more closely resemble modern euro/hobby games.

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Agreed. But I do feel that there are best practices that serve as a guideline. Like establishing a mental model before going into specifics. Or clear language for objects and processes, and thematic descriptions to deepen play later.

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A lot of rulebooks are written in "overt specific" which inevitably draws comparisons to legalese. Which is never a good thing. I wonder how many publishers don't just proofread, but test-read their rules, too. "Does it makes sense to people who haven't been playing this game for a year or more?"

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Many rulebooks are written, assuming they will be used to settle rules disputes. But the primary purpose of a rulebook is to enable players to play the game. If it fails to do that, players are unlikely to trust it to solve rules disagreements.

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