I've seen lots of good and bad comments on Easton. Personally, I don't have any problem with what they did cuz I didn't have 20 Flex or Extended bats squirreled away in my garage.
Easton can't win b/c they made hellacious bats for several years that don't break (except for the Unicorn), and they hit the 52 just as well IMO, or not so far behind the new bats as to make a noticeable difference. so no one has an incentive to buy a new bat.
My ball mallet has worked just fine to get my SSR4 into game shape, along with good amount of BP, which is necessary anyway if you want to hit consistently. IMO, it's just a shift by Easton. I never buy a bat new, and I have an SRV4 which I basically paid nothing for, so if they go totally crazy and withdraw everything prior to 2013, I'm not out much money for the use of some very hot bats.
I like the balance point of an Easton and will continue to use them. It's just business.