What's worse is actually trying to use those 3 warm bodies for something useful. For instance, divide up the mats by type, have one person contribute ingots, the other lumber, a 3rd crystals, and you turn in the nails or whatever. In theory, this divides up the amount of mouse clicks to get it done and should allow for faster completion, but...
  1. The people helping you no longer can be just 'any' crafter, they now have to have the relevant class/level to actually donate the item you give them.
  2. Two or more people tried to donate too close to one another? Oops, error, try again -> more mouse clicks
  3. Someone's dog needs to be walked? Whole party grinds to a halt because that person has part of the mats. Of course, they could trade back the mats before going afk, but they'll only be gone for a minute or two, right?
Seriously, it's pretty pointless, and can even be detrimental if you even think about attempting to utilize the warm bodies. They either should add some sort of minigame (perhaps one that directly influences the progess amount to help lower mat requirements for the next stage if played well?), or just flat out remove the party requirement.