Pretty much everything you said is true. I would say it's only more prone to warping if you bend the shaft when you break.
I break with my player, and I broke the ferrule, and cracked the shaft while doing so(and I don't have a monster break). That was about a year ago. I still play and break with the same cue and cracked shaft(ferrule replaced), and so far it's holding up fine.
Just a matter of time before it fails though.
As far as the flat tip, I like it that way anyways.