Abstract: A method of instantiating a player-versus-player match at a network game includes creating a private region of a publicly accessible game environment. User-customized buildings are instantiated in the private region. Each building is based on configuration information provided by a game participant, so that each building represents a unique building associated with a particular user or user group. A player-versus-player match is initiated in the private region, so that participants in the match can interact with the customized buildings.

Abstract: A method of providing a game session for a network game includes communicating information for the game session to a game participant. The game participant interacts with the game, thereby accumulating a game session attribute, such as currency, experience points, and the like. A portion of the accumulated game session attribute is allocated to a game character associated with a non-participant of the game session. In an embodiment, this allows a character associated with a player that is unable to attend the game session to achieve the benefits of the game session, so that the character is able to maintain parity with other characters in a gaming group.