Let's talk about the conclusion first: the popularity of this game is because it has stepped on the trend of the times and reaped the genre dividend; while its popularity is due to the collapse of operation and balance, which is a typical "self-destruction".
Let me first talk about when it was popular. When "Eternal Era" came out, it featured "movie-level 3DMMO" and "smart idle". At that time, the mobile game market really lacked such action masterpieces that "looked like PC games". In terms of graphics, among many card and 2D games, its light and shadow model is really good, and it looks "wow" at a glance. This is the first wave of word-of-mouth spread brought about by the visual impact. In terms of gameplay, its "intelligent AFK" system is great news for office workers and students. You can release your character to fight monsters, upgrade and pick up equipment by yourself. With the setting of "full map PK explosive equipment", it is very straightforward. Coupled with "free trading" and "free server transfer", both brick-and-mortar and social network experts have something to do. This structure was quite advanced at the time, so it became popular. Although the number of 70 million players may be watery, the popularity is indeed real. 🎉
Where is the coolness? Coolness means that the coolness lies in the collapse of krypton gold and balance. Although it is marked with a charging mode of 0, everyone who has played it knows that the depth of in-app purchases in this game is comparable to a bottomless pit. You said free trade, but the trading currency is bound, and the "magic items" bought and sold between players may not be as powerful as those in the mall gift packs. The most critical thing is that its full-map PK setting was originally intended to be exciting, but in the later stages, it became a hunting ground for krypton gold bosses to unilaterally crush civilian players. People with zero recharge and monthly cards were instantly killed when they went out, and the experience was extremely bad. In addition, "changing servers at will" has turned into "running after someone's thigh". The opening of a new area will always be more lively than the old area, and the old area will gradually become a ghost area.
There is also a fatal flaw, which is that its later gameplay is too simple. The idle system will relieve you in the early stage, but make you bored in the later stage. There are no more tricks in the game. Going online every day is just a repetitive routine. Faced with constant discounts and increasingly powerful krypton gold props, the enthusiasm of ordinary players has slowly faded away. A friend of mine has been playing the game for half a year, and finally posted on the forum: "This game was not broken by us, but by the operation team who treated the players like leeks." Although the words are rough, the reasoning is not rough. From a social ecology point of view, when new players enter the server and experience the "abuse life" for a week, it is difficult to stay. The fresh blood is cut off, coupled with the loss of old players, it is normal for them to cool down quickly.
To sum up the "hotness" and "coldness" of "Eternal Era": it wins in the innovation of the screen and hands-free gameplay, and captures the hard needs of players; it loses in the depth of the krypton gold system and the maintenance of the game's ecological balance. It was once a popular symbol in that era, but it also provided a negative teaching material for later MMO mobile games on "how to quickly consume the game lifespan". If you are still nostalgic and want to go back and see it, my suggestion is that you can just stroll around the new area and have a good time. Don't spend money anymore, just leave some memories of your youth. 🙃