Here’s a player’s account of what we did with The One Ring over the weekend:

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?760980-The-One-Ring-LongCon-2-day-mini-campaign

But yes, absolutely, you’re standing up to the Shadow. You’re an adventuring company doing good deeds and going on quests. It’s a great game for getting the feel of Tolkien’s books. It’s pretty “trad”. I like it a lot, but unless capturing the feel of Middle Earth in the mechanics in a largely trad game (with some nifty bits, that are boardgamey in a good way) is something you want to do, it’s not your ideal game!