AD&D 2e has, primarily, a presentation problem. The rules are best suited for a gritty game about the minutiae of exploring uncharted wilderness and delving into the dungeons you find there—one where you keep a watchful eye on your dwindling supplies of lamp oil and arrows as you calculate how to bring as much loot out of the dungeon as possible before getting killed by running into a particularly lucky orc. The rules are very similar to AD&D 1e, which is presented this way.
At some point, someone at TSR must have decided that heroic adventure sells better, because all of the 2e fluff and art makes it look like you play as heroic badasses who stare down dragons, which if you start at level 1 and play by the XP rules, will take you many months of weekly play to achieve.
AD&D 2e has, primarily, a presentation problem. The rules are best suited for a gritty game about the minutiae of exploring uncharted wilderness and delving into the dungeons you find there—one where you keep a watchful eye on your dwindling supplies of lamp oil and arrows as you calculate how to bring as much loot out of the dungeon as possible before getting killed by running into a particularly lucky orc. The rules are very similar to AD&D 1e, which is presented this way.
At some point, someone at TSR must have decided that heroic adventure sells better, because all of the 2e fluff and art makes it look like you play as heroic badasses who stare down dragons, which if you start at level 1 and play by the XP rules, will take you many months of weekly play to achieve.