What people need to remember is having millions of people trying to connect at the same time is going to cause problems. Look at the huge companies being taken offline by DDOS attacks over the last few years.
There's probably more users trying to connect simultaneously to the servers than one of these DDOS attacks. Then they're downloading more data than a DDOS attack. There WILL be issues - I'm fully expecting them for the next week or 2.
Call of Duty has problems every year when they release a new game, FIFA does too (not tried last 2 years though), GTA has probably double the user base of CoD and arguably Rockstar is a much smaller company than Activision, so it's asking a bit much for it to be 100% smooth instantly.
Rockstar have said themselves they didn't expect GTA V to be as successful as it has been, they've (apparently) been working 24/7 to get more servers online ready for GTA Online - but this also has its own drawbacks and initial problems (I've recently teamed up 4 servers in the server farm I look after and it was a nightmare!!!).
Simple answer is. Be patient.
I do agree, however that the tutorials should be optional rather than forced.
I did manage to get a good stable and lag free connection for about 2 hours last night, played a couple of missions and some TDM's and it's very, very good!! Earning money is fairly quick meaning only idiots will be buying it with real money. TDMs are a bit like GTA IV online but with far better shooting mechanics, it reminds me a bit of Max Payne 3 online which doesn't surprise me either.
Looking forward to problems being sorted and giving it a good go with friends though.