The drop rate until a week ago was low (I had gotten exactly 4 material drops). It was so low that I'm sure people were spending coins to get the specific items they wanted. It would have still taken MONTHS - if not YEARS - of heavy grinding to max my hero gear without paying cash. I'm fine with this. At least drops happen if you play hard and keep at it. Most players would spend coin before spending months grinding. I'm not sure the pre-adjustment rate is really cutting into Evony's bottom line.