Good playability, the skill to create a "real" feeling in the scenario, good design, smart and maximum using of AOMs editor could do it.

I think that a great scenario will have beautiful and innovative eye-candy, mythological, and of course, professionally used triggers.

But, above all, a great story, like a movie, but one which you can control.

Actually, that depends. A scenario with a horrible plot can totally ruin the good eye-candy of the scenario and give it a 3.

A scenario that has some thougthful input, tells a story, and that maybe has a few surprises along the way.

For all of you:
Never post scenarios with 5,000 x's facing off against 6,000 y's. While these may be fun to watch on your own comp (I sometimes make some 100v100 battles myself just to watch), anyone can make these by copying groups of units. If you make one, don't submit it.

Midgard Eagle

On one side; Good Texturing, good eye candy (not too much to lag in a MP scenario), and best possible use of triggers...

While on another side, you must have a good, fast paced plot, that is tied together so that you don't lose what is going on....

while these seem like hard, you can't sacrifice any of the last group, and to make a perfect scenario, any of the top group....which I think would be very hard.....

on another note, you can't please everyone :P

Great story, great gameplay, and great map design. Attention paid to every detail. Probably the same kind of scenarios that were good for AoK will be good for AoM, though brought into a mythological setting. However, with the AoM editor, a lot more will be possible in terms of triggers and map design, so the expectations for these will go up from AoK times.

AoM editor maybe far advanced then AoK...but the general standsards will remain almost the same..

What will change is the way it is represented.

Map design will always remain a very important prospect...but here there would be much more eye-candy, much more editor only units/eye-candy, sfx effects to add to the feel, etc.

Story - everybody likes to play a scenario with an intriguing story, nicely told, when u can identify with the character(s), with a pinch of humor, a bit of suspencse maybe, suprsises are always welcome. In AoM, cinematic will be used, advanced triggering means better means to characterize ur hero (army), etc.

Balance as always is needed. A Giant having to kill villies just sucks and so does a groupof hoplites to kill the guardian anubite. A nicely balanced scenario, gives the challenge but yet offers victoy. It tells u to except those challenges and then feel the exhiliriation of victory.

my 2 cents

Mythology doesn't have to be a necessary part of it.

And a fast- paced plot may be good but not entirely necessary- eg: Baldur's Gate 2 was rather long and drawn out, but that's what made it arguably the greatest CRPG ever.

Long time no see X27...

Yeah, a long developped story can be good...but in scenarios, it can be hard to do and a lot of people fail at doing one.

It's nice to see that someone remembers me.

Though I have no idea why..

Dunno, your name sounded familiar

Well, I was rather active in the AoKH Scen Design Forum a year and a half ago..

I obviously remember you (AoK Casino, you being a cherub, and all the threads you were in)..

Fun, good looking good use of triggers well designed and good playability

for me a perfect scenario must be eye-popping (terrain design), must have a cool story and last but not least must be FUN (which contains good playability, no bugs, a cool computer AI, surprises, cool tasks that do repeat etc. etc.).

just my two bits.

All of the above plus something original. Not just cheesy copies of old ones.