[mad=dog]

I don't know if it is a moot point... Do you consider assasins underpowered? I don't personally. In fact the x7 backstab will ensure a kill on more than the suggested 50%. In my terminology a class is "nerfed" if it has been downgraded to a level where it is inferior to other comparable characters. Fighters have been nerfed as they don't get the same benefits from their extended access to weapon proficiencies. Who would you play a "plain" fighter then? You can play a ranger or paladin with no real drawbacks and a heap of benefits == the balance is ruined == fighters are nerfed. Then there are kits. They are NOT a giftshop. They are NOT intended to create more powerful characters. Otherwise game balance goes the way of the dodo. A kit has drawbacks and benefits and they must balance eachother out.
Another good example of nerfed classes are wizards and especially bards regarding spell tables. I refer to my own thread on the matter named "Bard alterations/rebalance" or somesuch. However there are other underlying reasons why the game fails regarding this and the weapon proficiency downgrade. Both due to the game being far too generous.
1) The game is too generous with XP. I see absolutely no point in the 8000000 ceiling when characters don't progress for the last 2000000 anyhow. It is an XP giftshop. Plain and simple. I'd rather have balance and less XP is you ask me.
2) The game is far too generous with equipment. True in SoA and rediculous in ToB. This makes it impractical to implement true proficiencies. Fighters would simply go through the roof. However without them everyone else is a bit too good at hand-to-hand stealing some of the fighters thunder. Again I'd prefer to cope with +2 weapons and actually get something for the dedication it takes to place 5 marks in a single weapon.

I don't know, but this game just reminds me of those DMs that try so hard to please the players and wind up with a bored group.

If you really have 1st edition rules you are lucky. They are hard to find. Did you get it on EBay or from some relatives who stopped playing? I think it went out of print in '86 or '87.