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

Why are servers listed as available when you can't even freakin create cities?!?!? How long it this go to go on?

The EA people are out doing an awesome Harlem Shake video.

Just wanted to bump this thread and add my voice to this problem.  I have tried every server, successfully logged into all of them, however the servers that make me do the tutorial-- the tutorial doesn't work, just loads the city and then nothing. I can move around and look around, but nothing is clickable, no popups / dialouges, nothing. 

Then the servers that do not make me do the tutorial give me this error message instead.  When I did spend 5 minutes constantly clicking the claim button, it finally let me into a city!!  Only to dissapointment me with all of the  menus across the bottom completely empty, and nothing else clickable.  Other than that, graphics looked great, music was awesome.. just can't play anything.  I played in the closed beta, and I didn't have a single problem.  It seemed really well polished.  They even invited me to do another beta test for stress testing servers, but it was such a small time frame, and origin wanted me to download another 12 GB for the stress testing beta,  so I said forget it as my ISP has a bandwidth cap and charges overage fees.

I preordered the digital deluxe version months ago, and I've only been able to play the tutorial in the closed beta a few weeks ago. I even decided it was worth it to go over my data limit to download it figuring it was worth the extra fees.  (The irony is my bandwith resets on the 9th, and I might not even get to play this before then! lol) I wish someone would at least acknowledge that this is a problem. They've acknowledged the release date mishap, the tutorial problem, the stuck updater, but not a single word about not being able to claim a city -- and this has been going on since I downloaded it Monday night.

Getting the same problem, does anyone know what causes it?

As for EA, I agree we are owed some kind of perk for this gigantic screw up.  An applogy isn't enough (though one should be issued) this is an example of DRM gone mad.  I understand the desire to gain from your work as everyone has the right to the fruits of their legitmate labor, but you have made your game almost unplayable trying to stop somehting that can't be stopped.

EA it may be easy to ignore complaints on this forum and dismiss us as hotheads, but you have really screwed up here and we desrve better than this.

Yup. Same Message. Same Error. Why is EA so **bleep** bad at anything involving online synchronization? Let me play offline if you can't even handle a launch...like you guys always fail to do. If it's so **bleep** bad for servers; why not do what a lot of places do now? Allow pre-orders to play the game a few days early; so you can save the headaches from the majority of your customers. Cause obviously those betas didn't seem to prepare you guys for this.

Thanks.

Please fix this issue; I just want to create a city and see if I can recommend this game to my friends and coworkers instead of telling them, "nope, EA screwed up again you guys". [Seems like a lot of review places dropped the ratings down due to these disappointing server issues] ... Maybe EA should just issue a credit to the people who decided to purchase the game in anticipation to only be disappointed? Compensate people's wasted time here :P.

Like most of life's problems it can be best summed up using Futurama my message to EA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhy7dXWjpAA

The problem is fundamental flaw in the logic of EA. In an effort to protect their game from being pirated, they have alienated customers. Instead of making a good product that is fun enough for someone to pirate it, they made a good product that no one can play. This is one of the reasons that PC games are losing to the Xbox 360 and PS3. Happy customers equals profits. How many bad launches can a company have before their company sinks?

Same problem here. I just installed and updated, then got through most of the tutorial up until visiting the other city, then there was a server error. Now I can't claim a new city or restart the tutorial. I can visit other people's cities- man this looks great, I really want to play it!

Its working for me now, I dont know if the prob is fixed but just keep trying the servers cuz im playing now.