I'm a picky reader and there are too many fics in the "latest" section for me to go through. To help me decide, I look at fics with posters. It doesn't have to be a good one. There just needs to be a cover so I can stop and read the description. It's a filtering method for me.

I look less on the quality and more on how the author adds detail to their story. A cover, simple or extravagant, can still catch someone's attention. But it's not the entirety of a story~

Honestly it depends on person preference.
Yes, the cover do influence user to check out the story especially if it really look attractive but if the author know how to capture their audiences with their words I'm sure even if the story don't have a cover or may have, but a bad one, they will still read it bcs in the end you will be soon focusing on the story, the characters and the plot line that the author unveil during your reading.

I have read stories, with and without cover or either the cover is attractive or not. Cover does give it a additional attraction to your story but then it depends on how your story related with the cover with honestly in graphic designer view, some tend to go astray for unknown reason..

Also, sure having a cover is great but then if the story itself doesn't give the same impression as the cover then you'll still lose your subscribers. That's just my opinion, bcs people have different opinions

ok, I'm guilty for always judging a book by its cover. Pretty controversial, but if there's a really bad cover for a story/book, I would probably not read it. :/ it's just that I really enjoy beautiful things, and who doesn't? If we're not supposed to judge books by their covers, then why do authors still hire people to create gorgeous covers and spines and etc. for their book? Same with fanfic writers.
Plus, a cover usually gives a lot away about the story, so if I see a cover that looks like the story would be something really generic and terrible, I probably wouldn't read it. Covers are the first things that people see, so it's almost a responsibility as a writer/author to find a good one for the story if they're expecting a bigger audience.

just my opinion though haha

Sometimes I use the covers section when looking for stories. It's mostly if I'm not seriously looking as such (and I would never start reading a story without actually confirming it's something I have an interest in) but the covers are so pretty usually! And I love looking at them. Needless to say, if one cover is just striking I will click on it and read the foreword of said story. I'm unlikely to actually read the story but - hey, the graphics are visually pleasing and I like looking at them. <3