Thanks!
Yeah, my usual group consists of myself and four other guys, all of whom I taught how to play. They mostly listen and look to me to organize or make any changes, so if I think we need to stick with 8th, I don't think they'll have a problem with that at all. There are some very large gaming groups in the surrounding areas (they even host a large, rather well-known tournament), and it'll be interesting to see what they do, but from talking with them, nobody in their group played End Times rules and everyone is waiting for AoS with folded arms and much trepidation.
Another good thing that we have going here is a dedicated forum for finding local people wanting a game. They simply post what game they are wanting to play, when and point total and when someone responds, they set up a meeting place. Simple and negates so much searching game stores for (hopefully) someone to play a pick-up game. It also keeps you from having to play the same people every time. All of the local store owners know about it and advertise for it since it usually brings potential customers into their store. It works out great! If more things like this were set up, I think 8th wouldn't have a problem continuing to exist outside of AoS (if it flops).