I would subscribe to preview the chapters to see if they are good after considering the forward, and then if I like it, I stay subscribed, and if I don't... sorry...but other than that, the 'please subscribe' buttons are kind of annoying.

If its a story i take interest in, i would subscribe, and if the fic is already completed, i would just unsubscribe later ^~^ If the fic is ongoing, i wont unsubscribe

I usually mark my stories as subs only.

It is safer for authors to mark their stories as subscribers only.
First, you can keep track of those who read your story.
Second, you can avoid cases of plagiarism (finding the culprit is easier).

Marking it as subscribers only would not mean forcing people to read your story.
(Why bother being a subscriber if you do not like the foreword at all?)
Makes sense right? And if the story didn't suit the readers' taste, they could just unsubscribe. :)

I will subscribe if I like it

I read the foreward first and it depends on how good it is..... then if its interesting enough, i sub it;)

of course i will think twice, but firstly i have to see the foreword. if the foreword/story is interesting for me, i'll subscribe it ^^

i will try to read first the foreword or something. then if it is good, whether its open to subs or not, i will still sub for it.
BUTTTTTT! some authors prefer it to be 'invited' first by them for the story to be open for us to read.and whenever i request the author to invite me to read their story/stories (but not all authors i mean), i have to wait.........for a long time, i guess =(.

yes i will ignore those fics sometimes wether they're good or not

I will sub, read a first few chaps then unsub...

Sometimes I like to read the first chapter before subscribing, but when its on subscriber's only I can't do that. But I think its a good thing as you can keep track of your readers, you should put the subscriber's only on!

Feels like the author only wants some subscribers, since now most authors only want their story to be featured. To subscribe like this the title and summary need to be really appealing or I need to know the author.

Nothing. For any story, if I like the title, I click it. I read the description and foreword. If I like what I see, I proceed to chapter one. If it's subscriber-locked, I just click subscribe. So easy. But if I don't like what I see, I go back to the foreword and unsubscribe. I am not that lazy. If you want to lock your fic and don't mind unsubbies, go ahead.

"Subscribers only" is good for keeping track of how many people are actually reading your story. Some people don't bother subscribing or commenting so they're just like ghosts.

I have a few of my stories on "subscribers only" because if someone's interested in my story then they should just check out my description, foreword, and comments before deciding to subscribe.

I pay attention to the upvotes mostly or the storyline first before I subscribe. Just so I have a general idea.