Group crafting has been promised since 2010 (I wonder if they'll ever add the promised cake to the list of things you can make down there XD) but considering that they decided to take the FC route with it, the requirements are incredibly flexible. You can essentially solo the entire thing, crafting and handing in all of the items yourself if you want to (and have the required levels), and then just ask 3 friends/colleagues/strangers off the street of any level 1+ crafting class to join you for 10 seconds per stage to progress it.

When I heard it was FC based crafting requiring a party, I assumed it was level 50+ and required all members of the group to be from the FC.

I think this is a great compromise, although I do wish it was more interactive, using skills and things with other people and stuff like that.