Gog.com wouldn't exist without all developers going back to patch their online only games etc.
Games these days are often not even ready until a year or so after release meaning if you don’t trust the patch distribution to continue for a long time one shouldn’t even buy the games.
An online requirement is pretty easy to patch out after a while. Obviously you trust the developer to actually do it, and I wish more would. A good distributor could prove that they are reliable and patch away the online requirement after a year or so. After all DRM is usually about protecting a first crucial period of sales.
I haven’t really played a game that doesn’t use another online resource (data, opponents, DLCs…) in a very long time so perhaps I’m underestimating the problem of online requirements compared to someone who would e.g ever play an older offline game.
Importantly, when I “buy” (I use that term lightly for software) a game, I don’t expect it to be a perpetual functioning license that lets me show it to my kids in 15 years. I see it more as a movie ticket for brief entertainment. It's an unfortunate state of affairs - but I'd rather have 1 year of non-stuttering gameplay than a perpetual re-playable but flawed game if I'm forced to choose.