You are definitely not "running it wrong." Our group played AV and had great roleplaying as well, especially when one considers downtime activities. I don't know what "you need to follow a strict rhythm of crescendo and climax (combat-wise) that can and will get in the way of role-playing." is supposed to mean...Which is the total opposite of my experience with PF2E, we've had some great roleplaying, lots of fun combats and overall a good time. Given your posts I suspect I'm running it wrong