Well, personally I think the anime was ok... many many problems, but it wasn't too horrible or unwatchable.

The manga is awesome, chachazero and chachamaru ftw!
(but it probably has a little too much fanservice thuogh...)

I don't really mind the hair color change that much, but I'm surprised that Asuna doesn't have different colored eyes.
Hopefully the new anime will be good yet also refreshing for the manga readers.

P.S. the whole "?" and "!" bussiness reminds me of Fullmetal Panic series where the pseudo-sequel "fumoffu" was originally going to be Fullmetal Panic? (the first season was Fullmetal Panic!) but was changed due to the fact no one will be able to tell if someone was talking about the first or second season.