I realise the problematic blending of flavour text and rules text, and the enthusiastic verbosity of the latter, has been mentioned around here before. But I consider this a big enough issue that I think it deserves its own thread.

Randomly picked example:

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Characteristic: Intelligence
Average Time: One hour
Use: A character can make a Linguistics (I) test to decipher a code or archaic text in a known language, or pull small details from a text in an unknown tongue. Fully deciphering text in an unknown language requires a substantially lengthier amount of time, based at least partly on its length and complexity. If the character has access to a lexicon for the language, this should grant a situational bonus. Some texts, particularly ones heavily laden with cultural references or colloquialisms benefit much less from the aid of a formal lexicon.
The more degrees of success gained on the test, the more information is gained from the text. If the text is laden with contextual clues, obscure references, or unusual notions it may require additional degrees of success to fully unravel this information. Texts written in poetic verse, laced with symbolism, or in the hand of a madman are all more difficult to translate than a more straightforward presentation.
Re-attempt: This test cannot be re-attempted on the same resource, unless the character has acquired further expertise in the language. If the character fails the test by more degrees of failure than his Intelligence bonus, the translation not only fails, but is mistranslated.

That's just waaay too much.

Split the description of what the skill does and how the player goes about using it, into two separate sections. Then re-write both how it works and what its use is, until you're down to half the word count.

Out in the real world people barely have time to play tabletop games as it is, and asking them to read a 300+ page rulebook until they know it by heart is completely unrealistic. That means your rulebook has to be designed as a useful reference at the tabletop, because until everybody playing remembers the rules by heart, that's what it will be used for every 5 minutes.

You have to rewrite this stuff, FFG. Please. It's a rulebook, not something you read once and then never look at again.

What about if each skill use has a list of example penalties and bonuses, instead of wordy descriptions? Lists are always easier to read.

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Characteristic: Intelligence
Average Time: One hour. The time required will depend on the length and complexity of the text.
Use: To decipher a code or text in an unknown or obscure language. The more DoS gained on the test, the more information is gained.
Bonuses:

• The character has a reference material, e.g. dictionary
• The character has a scribe assisting him
• The text has accompanying images that indicate what the subject matter is

Penalties:

• The text is laden with cultural references or colloquialisms
• The text was written by a madman
• The text is of a technical nature that the character isn't familiar with

Re-attempt: This test cannot be re-attempted on the same text, unless the character gains further expertise or resources. If the character fails the test by more degrees of failure than his Ib, the text is mistranslated.

What about if each skill use has a list of example penalties and bonuses, instead of wordy descriptions? Lists are always easier to read.

That's exactly the sort of change I meant

Paragraphs are good. It's much easier to pick out a paragraph than a sentence.

Word count is bad. Words that aren't strictly necessary to convey the information correctly, increases the time it takes to extract the information and increases the chance that the information won't be conveyed correctly.

Good ideas. The blending of flavor and rules has always bothered me. A good example from the equipment section is the lasgun's variable shot setting introduced in OW. Great idea, but when 3 or 4 different weapons all have the option to use it and you have to thumb from the las pistol entry to the lasgun entry, maybe it's time to rethink your layout.

It would be great if everything you needed to know about a weapon could be gleaned from its line in the table (plus the special traits, which are all conveniently nearby), but that just isn't the case.