When neutral Pandaren characters in World of Warcraft leave their starting zone, they're forced to choose a faction — Alliance or Horde. Choosing to remain neutral, Doubleagent never left. Nearly two years and a whole lot of herb picking later, Doubleagent has finally hit the game's level cap.


The idea of remaining neutral in a game defined by conflict is an appealing idea to many World of Warcraft players, so when it was announced the new race introduced in September 2012's Mists of Pandaria expansion would begin with no allegiance, those players were understandably excited. But the neutrality offered only extended as far as the first 10-15 levels of play in The Wandering Isle starting zone — if players wanted to extend their journey into the rest of Azeroth, they'd have to make a decision.

Doubleagent didn't make that decision. He stayed on The Wandering Isle. Once all of his quest options were exhausted and he became too high level to gain experience from the creatures in the zone, he used mining and herbalism to slowly gain experience points. We're talking 20-30 experience points per ore or plant harvested.


He couldn't train his professions past 75 points. He couldn't participate in PVP or dungeons (he'd have to choose a faction). He couldn't leave the relatively tiny starting island at all. He couldn't even mail himself gear, as the island has no mailbox.

This weekend he gathered together fellow neutral-minded players into a herb-picking raid to celebrate hitting level 90. His total play time on the character prior to the event was some 170-plus days.

Doubleagent's future plays include staying on The Wandering Isle when the Warlords of Draenor expansion comes out this fall and slowly picking his way towards level 100.


Doubleagent hits Level 90! [World of Warcraft via The Escapist]