What is Thrive or Die?
Thrive or Die is a survival mmorpg set in a medieval fantasy world, which is currently in development by 
Dynamic ecosystem
The game world will be greatly affected by the choices players make. It's possible for entire plant or animal species to go extinct if the right series of events occurs. Players will be placed in a wild nature, and will be expected to make the best life for themselves. What balance with nature is kept is completely up to the community.
There will be a sense of realism, and as few "rules" as possible, creating an open-world sandbox experience. Players will be able to build or destroy, just as they would be able to if they were living in the world themselves. This also means little to no restrictions on players' interactions with one another, be those interactions peaceful or otherwise... Work together with others or become a villain, the choice is yours.
The marketplace
ToD will feature a robust, player-run marketplace with a steem-based exchange system. The upcoming Smart Media Tokens would be an obvious mean of making this a reality, though an in-game "token" could just as easily work. This will allow players to earn real money for their in-game efforts. One can choose to harvest a common resource, then sell them to other players who may not want to or be able to harvest that resource. Players using this marketplace could essentially build a virtual business that sees profits in the real world!
How will the game make money?
A multiplayer game has many monetization routes, and one that has cryptocurrency at its heart has an even broader repertoire.
The first and probably most obvious is the blog earnings that will be generated by the game's Steemit account.
The second being the in-game "premium currency". This premium currency would be used in the player marketplace as well as spent in an item mall for perks or items. It would be exchangeable with the 
The game would charge a very small fee (something like half a percent) on exchanges happening on the marketplace, ensuring that as players are earning, the game fund isn't being depleted.
These are all monetization schemes that can be implemented immediately. Future means of profit can come from merchandise once the game has gained popularity, as well as promotional marketing. The list goes on, but without an initial fund to get it all going, and to ensure I have the time to develop it/hire people to help.
Additional info for potential investors:
I will be looking to sell a 49% lifetime take of the profits generated by this game. 1 STEEM will purchase a 0.01% take of the profits, and investors can buy as much of the stake as they would like, up to a total of 4900 STEEM. That may seem like a lot of money (it's currently valued around $30k USD), but I know this game will generate far more than that. I can't guarantee any ROI time frame, because doing so would only set us all up for frustration if/when said deadline is not met. Those interested should see the potential that I do for a game like this to become successful in an environment where everyone has a bit of extra money floating around.
If you have ANY questions about how this game would work, please contact me on Discord @ thatsweeneyguy#7660, and I will gladly talk your ear off about the whole thing.