Ironborn

Ironborn is a term for self-found characters or players who do not use the Auction House. There is no such official designation, and nothing to keep any player from using the Auction House at any time, but many players who feel the desire for a greater challenge or a purer experience eschew the Auction House as much as possible.

The larger theory is that the game could actually include an Ironborn mode which would function much like Hardcore does. Players would designate their characters as Ironborn upon creation, (they could be Hardcore as well if they wished) and Ironborn characters could never use the Auction House and could only play games with other Ironborn characters. That's essential, as the whole point is to create a "clean" economy and a level playing field.

The Ironborn concept is a reaction against the great ease with which high quality gear can be obtained via the Auction House and the lack of a single player mode in Diablo III which would let players stay entirely self-contained, or play only with their circle of friends via LAN or TCP/IP.

It seems unlikely that Blizzard would ever enable anything like this; after all, their long term profit model in Diablo III is taxing transactions in the RMAH.

Background

The term was coined and popularized by Flux, webmaster of Diablo.IncGamers.com, in late 2012. It's inspired by the Iron Islanders in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series. In Martin's series, the Ironborn are fierce warriors who feel all jewels and finery must be taken by force, "paying the iron price" rather than bought "paying the gold price," as the softer men of the mainland do.