Does "Cancel Contract" count as failure?

[zarakon]

If I cancel a contract, do I get hit with the failure penalty, or does it just go away?

Edited December 17, 2014 by zarakon

[xub313]

If you have already accepted it then yes, you'll get the penalty. If you haven't accepted it then it'll just go away.

With the new update, you might have to cancel a contract to make room for more.

Edit: this is wrong. See below.

Edited December 17, 2014 by xub313

[arkie87]

If I cancel a contract, do I get hit with the failure penalty, or does it just go away?

Is this question not answered to your satisfaction? If it is, please mark it as answered (edit origional post and the click advanced edit)

[bakanando]

It doesn't count as a failure. If you cancel only the money you got for accepting the contract will be returned, not the failure money.

I.E. If a deadline is coming close and you can't complete the contract, it's better to cancel the contract than waiting for it to fail.

[Kesa]

I'm not sure but I think you also lose a very little few of reputation, but nothing close of the penality.

[arkie87]

It doesn't count as a failure. If you cancel only the money you got for accepting the contract will be returned, not the failure money.

I.E. If a deadline is coming close and you can't complete the contract, it's better to cancel the contract than waiting for it to fail.

Are you sure about this? That's surprising....

[xub313]

Are you sure about this? That's surprising....

It surprised me too, but I did some testing and it is true.

[zarakon]

Neat, thanks

[arkie87]

It surprised me too, but I did some testing and it is true.

that is VERY IMPORTANT to know....

Thanks for sharing! Have some rep!

[Karyn451]

that is VERY IMPORTANT to know....

Thanks for sharing! Have some rep!

An easy fix to prevent "gaming" of the cancel contract button would be to scrap the failure status of the deadline and instead have a penalty clause for late completion, along with a bonus for early completion. That way you could also have a cancelation charge that scales up the closer you get to the required completion time. (with a short period for free at the start to allow you to simply change your mind about a contract).

The penalty for being late would increase the later you are, to the point of it costing more than simply cancelling the contract (the cost of which would also increase with time).

[Anquietas314]

It surprised me too, but I did some testing and it is true.

It's actually not quite as simple as this. I've had a few cases where I've cancelled a contract, and the penalty has been neither the loss of the advance money, or the loss from failure - it's been somewhere in between. It appears to depend on how long you've had the contract and how close it is to the deadline.