Unable to create your city at this time. Please claim a city again later

I was having the same problem as everyone else last night. After getting frustrated, I closed the game down and restarted it. When it loaded this time, the only main menu option was the tutorial. I completed the tutorial, and after completing, everything worked perfectly. It would seem like this could be the issue or at least part of the issue. It would make sense, especially if the tutorial was meant to be completed before engaging in normal gameplay. I'm not saying that is the only reason, but it is a possibility.