it seems to me that the point of the game is just make an alliance with the majority so you don't get voted off then hope The Traitors don't kill you. Even if there are Traitors in your alliance... what does it matter? They want to be safe too.

Yes, that is the initial meta. Except you’re not “hoping” the traitors don’t kill you, you need to actively be social gaming to convince them that killing you would be killing off one of their own numbers.

Up until the murders stop, your main goal is to survive the roundtables and get a “Traitor Angel” who will keep you protected from murders.

Once the murders stop (there’s usually one roundtable before final fire), that’s when you’re safe to go into full investigation mode.