This will be very interesting to see.
I imagine the Special ability (gonna have to stop calling at a 2hr ability) recast reduction meritting is going to be similiar to the current trade-offs for the 357 skill WS's. I think this is a really great idea. Alot of players have many jobs leveled, and this will make it interesting to see how to balance and prioritize between different Special JA's.
The JA's that are short and go for burst damage will probably be prioritized by most players.
1 hour recast IS really good for any current event. 30 min is actually sufficient for most.
With a shorter duration, It think they could get away sharing the recast timer better between the 2 abilities, however it would still be difficult. The reason has been reiterated many times. Its much more difficult to balance 2 different abilities to each other. like the comments from numerous players about embrava. The new Sp ability doesn't look bad, but when trading it for Embrava, you'll never win. So, even though it might be more possible to keep the recast combined, its safer not to.
The only question I would have after that is, if the recast is shared for other jobs? Will it reset Special abilities just by changing jobs unlike the current situation, OR will there be 2 categories for the special abilities to determine which is still waiting on the recast from one job to another.
The last 2 boxes are ofcourse the most exciting. Alot of ideas have been shared and it will be interesting to see if any survive the rigor which Developers need to apply.
The jobs have changed so much since the initial Special abilities have been designed, that it will be very interesting to see how they might be adjusted.
As a BST main, I imagine a defensive special ability would be well received.. if the 'offensive' ability is adjusted as well.
Frankly, this announcement is a HUGE, "WE are listening seriously to our playerbase" answer and it certainly makes a subscriber feel good.