no if u make a char after 1.10 is out u can choose the char to be
ladder or non ladder just like u can choose hardcore or softcore

there are 4 ways to create ur char ladder hardcore, ladder softcore, hardcore, softcore each state has its own economy and games and will not be able to join the games of any other

if u choose ladder then u wont be able to join anything else but ladder games with that char, other chars still will be able to join other games if they are not ladder.

all ladder chars start out with nothing, some items and cube recipes are only able to drop/be used in ladder to give some advantages and reasons to play ladder

after ladder season ends all ladder chars become normal chars
and ladder season will start over again. with ur normal chars u can still get alot of new items just not the 1s that are only able to drop in ladder

if u need more info on what items to drop where u can go to www.diabloii.net