did they change drop rates without saying anything?

Hello.
I just played the 1st act 3 map and it dropped 5 level 9 skill gems. That seems significantly too high?
I also noticed the crafting item that converts normal into magical items has already 22 stacks. I remember using it regularly and finding it be be relatively scarce. So it seems to drop more often.

So did they change drop rates without announcement?

In the 0.1.0c patch notes they changed drop rates. Could be there possibly? Check the Patch Notes thread in the forum index for early access if you haven't already.