I think that it will take some time to go back to 1.7, and I think that we will not care how long it takes, because the most of us (About 90%) want MCGamer back as how it used to be. I also think that we will all wait for the time that MCGamer needs to get back to 1.7 and that we all would appreciate it very much.
Don't throw out statistics without any backup proof. That alone just threw your arguement off. (Not sure if that's the right way of putting it, but it works for me.) Looking at the poll that you put up, as of now only 66.2% of those who polled have an issue with 1.8, which is not as significant as your claimed 90%.
Also, don't speak for
everyone in the community, because there is obviously people out there that do support 1.8, from both the poll numbers and the posts in the thread. Just some false statements I just had to point out.
As for my two cents for the argument, I don't believe that we should be downgrading, or doing a dual-protocol to allow in 1.7 clients, and for the same reasons people have posted in the thread.
Col_StaR summed up the reasoning behind why it's unreasonable for the server to downgrade quite nicely, so I'd rather not repeat what he said, just go read his post.
As for the dual-protocol, I find what
Evermore stated on that idea to be the best counter-argument. Doing the dual-protocol gives an unchangeable advantage for those on 1.7 over those who use 1.8, and advantages like that is something that shouldn't be involved in a gamemode like this. Simply put, I'm in support of 1.8, for all the reasons previously stated.
Quick Edit: Just wanted to say that your claim of "90%" could still be true, for this poll could have some bias within it. You could surely prove me wrong if you did a proper statistical study on this.