As for Bubble Gums they are 2 seperate methods so this problem won't exist.
Gum checks multiple times to see if an item drops, VIP should be multiplying the actual drop chance.
So, taking that information, I decided to do a test. Given that certain monsters drop items at 90%, under the old system (and supposedly under the new VIP system) multiplying that by 150% should bump it up to 135%. Essentially, every time I kill a monster that has a 90% drop on a VIP account, I should get that drop.
So I set out to find a monster that has 90% drop that I don't have drop penalty on. I chose anacondaq because I have a level 100 character. For reference Anacondaq is a level 100 monster and drops venom canine 90% of the time. References: http://db.irowiki.or...ster-info/1030/ http://rode-r.doddle...nster/view/1030
In order to completely eliminate any doubt of whether drop penalty was interfering or not, the monster level and character level are exactly the same. Yet you can see in the following screenshot that I did not get a venom canine from killing an anacondaq. This happened about one in every 20 kills.
As you can see from this next screenshot as well as the buffs on the right side of the screen, this account does indeed have VIP status.
Anyone is welcome to go test this for themselves. I do not know how VIP drop bonus is implemented, but it seems clear to me that it is not simply multiplying the base rate by 50%, which is how it worked previously on Ymir, and which was what Heimdallr stated it to be in the maintenance thread. Without knowing how the drop rate is actually applied, we can't say for certain that it is not affecting other monsters that do not have 90% drops. I personally feel that it is, considering my lower hauls last night.
If anyone else has anything to add here, please do. GMs, please fix this.