Adventure Games
For me, an adventure game usually involves solving puzzles and/or some decision-making elements.
Think Fahrenheit AKA Indigo Prophecy; ; The Longest Journey series; Syberia series; Myst series; Telltale's The Walking Dead games; etc.
Odd with SoM winning adventure game. I personally look at it as an open-world action game - one where you're often slaughtering orcs, hehe. I doubt you can finish SoM without killing anyone.
Shadow of Mordor...
Granted, I haven't played SoM yet...but I think the innovation would lie in its Nemesis AI System. Otherwise - this game looks like a cross b/t Assassin's Creed (open-world game with platforming elements; and missions and stuff on the map); Batman Arkham (with its combat); and the Middle-Earth license/setting. B/c the game has a pre-set story (which supposed to be good) and that also the Nemesis can shape certain elements (to make it feel like it's also shaping its own small stories - which can add to the game itself), this game looks to have something really interesting going on in here w/ that kind of mixture. About technical awards for it - having a huge open-world like that; its crazy AI system (Nemesis); and an optional Ultra HD texture pack that requires 6GB VRAM - no other game goes to these lengths on the PC and push PC's to the edge, if you want to max it out on your PC.
I think it's crazy SoM wins all those awards, yet DA:I takes GOTY. I'm trying to figure out what they're thinking here. Maybe the only way one could justify SoM winning all those awards and DAI winning GOTY is that...well, all the technical achievements were awesome, but it overall SoM is lacking something that DAO has Maybe SoM is lacking the ridiculous game length + content amount and the branching decision-making elements that can shape your game's direction?
Best RPG/MMO, and DA:I
I also don't get why they combined Best RPG and MMO. Could they not come up w/ a best new MMO releases in 2014? If they can't - just leave the award off the list! They shouldn't have combined them. I haven't played DAI yet, BTW. Anyways...DAI has a MP portion, but this game isn't a MMO like Guild Wars series, WoW, TSW, and other MMO's.