I've been off my game for six months. My last campaign ended in total meltdown. While my players like me as a person my style was too heavy on roleplaying but I've been given a chance to redeem myself.
I'm running my intro to the homebrew world of Karnoss tomorrow.
Pretend I know nothing of running Pathfinder. What advice can you offer on the reboot? If it sounds like I'm sweating while typing this...lets just say I've faced whole crowds of business management less intimidating than my players on 2 days prep.
I am also an old school gamer, but did not grow up around a lot of role playing. I have tried role playing and it can be boring. There are two schools of playing one roll plays and the other role plays. My group enjoys rolling dice and a little role playing. If your story is rich and you can touch on the characters back ground story that usually leads to a good night of gaming. That is great your group is giving it another go.
Regarding the re-boot, I would start over which sounds like you are doing. Do not go back to the old game and start fresh. Let us know how it goes for you!
In the current campaign I'm in, the opening combat was filled with RP. One pitfall I see often is making a thick line between combat and RP. Why not mix them?
No idea if this helps, but there you go.
Try breaking up the session in your notes into blocks of time. Put out opportunities for combat and rp, and see how the players make use of the time. Make sure the information you need to give out is available through sill check or in character conversation, and see how the players go at the situation. Then, when reviewing your notes, try to tailor your game to how the players seem to want to spend their time.
I'd ignore some of the detailed combat rules so you are confident in your DMing and can make combat move briskly. That way the 'actioners' get what they want and you have time to get in some role play. Run skill checks during NPC encounters--it's like social combat!