GMail is free. Facebook is free. GTA V definitely isn't free. I don't think limited invites really work in this case. Imagine how upset people would be to discover they'd paid their $60 for a game that advertised online play on the box, only to discover a three month waiting period whilst the system scaled up.

I believe it could have worked if they just gave early access to people who preorder, and even earlier access to those who preorder very early (and so on). Then people get more value for preordering and GTA doesn't get completely swamped on online release day.

That's a pretty good trick, but it might inspire some serious complaining. The idea of a ticket that grants you entrance based on the order in which you preorder.

It's no different than the current situation.

Sure it is. Right now they have online play, it's just buggy and unusable.

That is totally different from not having something due to some psychological reason (which I don't know). Just like people hate it when a price goes from $0 to $1, but don't care as much when $10 goes to $15.

Just be honest and fair with your users, and they'll support you.