It is pretty clear that both of these have been reduced which makes absolutely no sense. This has been a farming spot since day one of alpha and now it’s a pretty useless spot. Bison were dropping a consistent 45-55 rawhide per kill. Now it’s more like 35-45. As for the respawn rate, I can run the entire island and kill all of the bison in a few minutes, only to then have to wait about the same amount of time for the respawn.
The only reasoning behind this would be to discourage players from farming there which makes even less sense. C’mon guys, there are so many things that need attention and this is not one of them. All this does is make the competition greater for the resources there, which again makes zero sense.
Previously, the island was literally hopping with bison. You could barely walk a few feet without running into one and their respawn rate was about as fast as you could kill them. This is why it was a great farming spot because multiple players could farm it without issue and then move on when they were done.
Personally, this just means I’ll move on to another farming spot that has a better return for the time invested. It does speak to the larger question as to why farming spots would be “turned down” as far as respawn and drop rates. The requirements for crafting are bad enough, why make that so much more of a grind, and yes it is a serious grind.