i think 1.17 would be great since it adds way more blocks and mobs to the game, and by that, different type of enemies and buildings :D sure not many people play 1.17, but i dont think it will make too much of a difference. people can always switch with just a few clicks between any version, they just gotta deal with the fact they cant use any mods from the beginning. the fact no other server has a gamemode like this, makes this game way more attractive and will most likely boost the playerbase quite a bit. the game will obviously take a long time to create and a lot of testing, but it sounds like a game worth waiting for.
i dont think its fair to compare these two games since they're completely different. one is a grinding/survival game, the other is a minigame. you attract different types of players with this. it makes a lot of sense to find more bugs in skyblock or colony control, because they're way bigger then among slimes.well pretty sure devs wont make game so big, since they cane make smaller game that will increase player base the same -----> look sb with about 200 players(9 months to make) and among slimes with 200 players(10 days to make)
with all due respect the amount of bugs found on skyblock is just huge, and about games being tested, i highly doubt that look---->colony control which i think were never properly tested for gameplay(not bugs)