true it is mostly ignored, shouldn't be though!
The ferrule is often paid little attention to and can vastly affect the hit of a cue. That thread linked above from 2014 is well worth reading. Some very smart very good cue builders posted in it. However, things have changed a bunch since 2014!
What was the best carbon fiber shaft in 2014?
There is a still image from a video I suspect that used to be around, may still be, that shows a ferrule moving a lot! House cues almost always have a very soft ferrule on them to dampen what could be a very stiff hit. I worked on a gross of house cues for a hall, new tips, new ferrules on many. I swapped out to much stiffer ferrules. One thing I found interesting, capped, uncapped, every one of those 3/4" or longer ferrules had blue chalk under them! They had worked as pumps or bellows and sucked in that chalk. I am talking an even layer or chalk end to end of the ferrule between it and the wood. I don't want a comparatively soft ferrule on my stick!
I favor a ferrule pretty close to square, the length of the ferrule is roughly the same as the diameter of the shaft. I favor a capped ferrule for strength, an open ferrule for feel.
I was experimenting with ferrules and pads when Hurricane Isaac sounded the death knell on my cue shop. I think there is a lot to be said for a pad or a ferrule so short it appears to be a pad. A very pure transfer of force compared to a long soft ferrule.
A ferrule was designed to protect the shaft long ago. Might even have began with the mace. They didn't have the glues and adhesives we have now back then or a pad might have been deemed acceptable and the ferrule never developed. I think it may have outlived it's original purpose. It does make a good reference point when aiming, other than that, a pad might be adequate to protect the end of the shaft and a thin hard pad has less affect on the hit than any ferrule, in my opinion anyway!
If you didn't search the cue builders forums it would be worth searching them too. However, there is a wide range of knowledge here on the main forum and most questions are deserving of a revisit every six months to a year. Some fast evolving things more often than that! I am getting sucked into carbon fiber shafts. I love traditional but I do believe carbon fiber is the better mouse trap. I loved traditional on race cars too, I still put what was fastest on mine.
Just as a matter of interest, look at the "vault plate" I think it is called on a REVO shaft. That is an interesting looking ferrule for you!
Hu