As far as all Relic/Mythic/Empyrean/Ergon weapons go, we’ve reduced the hurdles for participation, but we have not increased the amount of progress gained per encounter. This is dependent on the policy related to these weapons.

On a side note, we have increased the chances of obtaining these items through key items and campaigns.
Like the contradiction in your own post:

We haven't increased the drop rate, but we increased the chance it will drop via key items.... let that sink in...

I know they are just repeating what they tell the JP people 12 hours later but i feel like there is a complete disconnect. The number of drops dont increase greatly as you add more people. Going from 33% chance of 1, to 3 drops per kill is 'a slight increase'. Why not just make it so if you have 18 people the drop rate DOES increase to say 1 per person? That would sure motivate people to get 18 people there, vs the current situation of maybe 1-2 going.